


Fool's Gold

by deadeyedwritergirl



Series: Love Me Again [1]
Category: Liam Payne (Musician), One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Famous Liam, M/M, Non-Famous Zayn, University Student Zayn, dad liam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-30 14:53:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadeyedwritergirl/pseuds/deadeyedwritergirl
Summary: Zayn was a normal University student until a bad day at work ends in an interesting encounter with one of the patrons at the club he works at.Liam loves his daughter and ever since his bad break up with her mother, he never thought he would ever love anyone as much again. Until the night of his album launch introduces him to the most beautiful bartender he’s ever seen.Or the one where Liam is a famous singer with a daughter and Zayn is a university student and bartender who resents everything celebrities stand for. Louis is an actor on the cusp of making it big and Harry is a singer who fell in love at first sight with him. Niall is their producer friend.**THIS FIC IS ON HIATUS INDEFINITELY. APOLOGIES.**





	1. The Day That We First Met...

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Love Me Again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7291210) by [deadeyedwritergirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadeyedwritergirl/pseuds/deadeyedwritergirl). 



> **THIS FIC IS ON HIATUS INDEFINITELY. APOLOGIES.**
> 
> Hi, guys! So this is where my fic Love Me Again started. This has been sitting unfinished on my computer for years...yes, years! But I'm hoping that putting it up will motivate me to finish it (if you all want me to).
> 
> The usual disclaimers apply. I DO NOT know the boys or ANYTHING about their personal lives. This is pure fiction, created entirely from my over-zealous, highly romantically inclined mind. 
> 
> This is a work of fiction so obviously, situations etc. in this story are bound to be exaggerated and inaccurate. 
> 
> Thank you for taking a chance and reading this. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Please comment and leave kudos if you would like me to continue with this story.

Zayn wasn't having the best day of his life. Far from it actually. His day had started off terribly when he'd missed his alarm and had ended up being late for class. Upon his tardy arrival the git of a professor had made some snarky remark about it at which point the entire hall of about 300 students had begun to laugh, making Zayn blush as he made his way to the back of the room.

As if the start hadn't been bad enough, Zayn had back to back lectures all day until his shift at the club where he worked was due to begin. To make matters worse, the professor in the last lecture (another git) decided a surprise pop quiz in the last few minutes of the hour was good idea. Naturally, having not anticipated the surprise test, he had not studied the work and ended up staying half an hour over trying to make his rubbish answers sound as academic as possible.

After he was done he ran all the way to the club for his shift, which he was already over 45 minutes late for.

When he made it to work he had to push through crowds of people and paparazzi who had already started building outside in anticipation of the pop star that was hosting a private gig there that night. As he finally made it into the place Paul, the owner of the _Modest!_ , the club, was standing at the bar starting with the work Zayn was supposed to be doing.

"Oi! Malik! You're late! Where have ya been lad? We're meant ta open the doors for the album launch in less than an hour and the bar isn't even set up yet!"

"I'm sorry Paul! Lectures ran late."

"I don't pay ya ta give me excuses Malik! Get yer shit together and get moving! Before those doors open!" Paul said, making his way to his office.

 Zayn gave a sigh of relief. At least he didn't get fired.

As much as he hated the crowds that frequented the club he had to admit that the money was better than what he'd make anywhere else and Zayn definitely needed the money.

Zayn came from struggling family. Ever since his father died, his mom had been struggling to keep up with the bills, and so Zayn had to pay his own way through university. Which is why he ended up working at _Modest!_.

The club was one of the most famous in London and   was frequented by A-list celebrities all the time. Zayn couldn't stand those privileged snobs. They spent their nights drinking away thousands of dollars when there were people like him and his family that were in desperate need of that money. He also resented the way they treated other people that weren't as affluent. They treated them like rubbish they could order around for a price. No respect was ever directed at them from the patrons, they would just snap their manicured fingers and expect that their every whim would be met.

Zayn could easily tend bar elsewhere, at clubs with ordinary people but as mentioned before, the pay at _Modest!_ was good and once the celebrity patrons got drunk they could be as generous with the tips as they were rude. So Zayn could not leave because he needed this money.

Zayn immediately got to work, dropping his backpack behind the bar, he started unpacking the chilled glasses, stocking up the bar and wiping down the counter. He did all this at super-lightning speed because he didn't want to risk pissing Paul off again.

Once the bar was ready (in record time) Zayn grabbed his backpack from where he'd deposited it behind the bar and headed to the staff change rooms at the back of the club to change into his uniform. He took the time to freshen up a bit because all the running around had him sweating.

Once he smelled good again, he pulled on the black button down with the club's name written in white on the collar and black skinny jeans and his usual boots.

When he made it out to the bar the bouncer, Preston, was already at the door getting ready to check invitations to the launch and the waiters were already waiting with trays of appetizers and champagne. Zayn made his way to the bar and waited for the onslaught that was to follow the opening of the doors. He braced himself for a hectic night because this wasn't just any normal night, that night the club was hosting the album launch of one of the biggest names in pop music: Liam Payne. So it was bound to be packed. Zayn wasn't much of a pop music fan, preferring a little R&B and soul, but even he had to concede that the guy had a good voice.

Once Preston started letting people in, the chaos began. Being used to manning the bar by himself Zayn was on top of everything, managing to get everyone's drinks to them without too much complaint.

Things slowed down a bit at the bar when the man of the hour himself took to the stage. Zayn would never admit it to anyone but he could not take his eyes off Liam Payne for the entire duration of the star's set. On stage he had this presence and charisma that captured the audience's attention and drew them in effortlessly, Zayn included.

After the set there was another influx of people to the bar and Zayn worked quickly getting drinks out fast as he could. But drunk A-listers were very impatient so Zayn had insults thrown at him left, right and centre. As much as he wanted to shut them all up with a black eye each, he knew he couldn't if he wanted to keep his job. So he swallowed it all down and just kept working, trying not to pay too much attention to them.

Later on in the night, when the bar was a little quieter, with everyone out on the dance floor, Zayn  itched for a smoke to take the edge off but he knew he couldn't leave the bar unmanned so he kept himself busy by cleaning up the dirty glasses left on the bar and wiping the counter down. There were a few patrons hanging around the bar area as Zayn waited for someone to order a drink. There was one guy, sat at the end of the bar, looking around sheepishly as if he didn't know how to get Zayn's attention for a drink so Zayn made his way down to him.

As he came closer to the guy, Zayn almost stopped dead in his tracks. With the strobe lights and the disco lights flashing in the darkened club Zayn had not been able to see who the man was but now that he was closer he saw that it was none other than Liam Payne himself. Zayn considered walking back up to the other end and pretending he didn't see the star because he just wasn't in the mood to deal with another drunk, and over-privileged celebrity. He had taken enough shit for the night, and Liam Payne was bound to be the biggest asshole of them all seeing as he was the man of the hour. But Zayn had a moral compass, and it told him that that wouldn't be the right thing to do. So he braced himself, clenched his teeth and walked up to the man.

"Hey bro. What can I get you?" he asked tightly. Liam looked up quickly, as if surprised by his appearance.

"Oh. Hey, mate. Just a beer would be great, yeah?" he fumbled out.

Zayn was a little surprised by Liam's tone. He expected him to be an arrogant and pompous shit. But the guy sitting in front of him at the bar wasn't that at all. He sounded nervous and quite unsure of himself (evident in the way that he made his drink order sound like a question rather than a command). Zayn quickly turned to the fridge behind him and pulled out a beer, which he opened, set on a coaster and slid in front of Liam.

"There you go," he said. Not bothering to smile, like Paul always told him to, because he wasn't having a good day.

"Cheers mate," Liam said with a smile Zayn could only describe as child-like and genuine.

Zayn found himself almost mesmerized by the gentleness of it and that was hardly appropriate now was it? So he was about to turn away and make his way up the bar when he heard Liam ask, "You all right then? You look like you aren't having a good night."

Zayn almost couldn't believe his ears. In all the time he had worked at the club, none of the patrons had given two shits about greeting him, let alone asking him if he was all right, so hearing one of the biggest stars in the UK and the world ask him if he was all right threw him for a bit of a loop.

With his expression still schooled and tight Zayn looked around to see if Liam was really talking to him and once he was satisfied that he was in fact talking to him he answered.

"Yeah, nah just been a long day is all." he said, keeping it short because he was pretty sure rich boy had no real interest in hearing about Zayn's problems.

"Sorry, mate. Having to work this crowd can't be helping either, huh?" Liam said guilt evident in his tone.

For a second Zayn was convinced that Liam thought it was his fault because it was his launch. But Liam seemed to be trying to coax Zayn into a conversation with him and Zayn really wasn't interested in hearing about his money and his celebrity friends so he just shrugged.

"I'm Liam, by the way." Liam said, holding out his hand for a handshake. Zayn looked to his outstretched hand then to his face with a slight look of condescension.

"Yeah bro, I know. Everyone knows who you are Leeyum Payne."

Hot, pink heat crept up Liam's neck as he let his hand fall back down to the counter top, giving up on the idea of Zayn shaking it.

"Oh, right. Yeah. I forget sometimes..." he said. leaving the _'that I'm famous and everyone knows who I am because sometimes I still feel invisible like people don't even know I exist'_ to hang in the air, unsaid.

He noticed the fit barman that had drawn him away from the VIP section to the bar in the first place, start to turn away. Liam couldn't have that. He had to try one more time to get the most gorgeous person he had ever seen to notice him as more than another patron.

"You going to tell me your name then?" he asked before the guy could walk away again.

"Zayn," he said curtly, as if he wanted to appease Liam so the conversation could end. But Liam had always been a sucker for punishment. He was a masochist in the worst form. He always wanted things he couldn't have. Beautiful people like this bartender did not belong with ordinary boys who pretended to be special. Like him. Sophia had proven that. But he pressed on anyway.

"Great to meet ya Zayn." he said, still trying to coax at least a smile from the boy with his own. But still, he didn't even twitch. He was about to fumble for something else to keep the bartender there with him when he heard his name being bellowed above the music from behind him.

"OI! Payno! There you are! I've been looking for ya mate."

Liam turned around to see Niall, his producer/boss and one of his best friends, making his way up to him. He turned back around to the bar to excuse his drunk friend in advance (because Niall was loud and boisterous when he was drunk) but the beautiful bartender had slipped away. Liam watched his retreating back as Niall took the seat next to him.

"Yeah? Well you found me Nialler," he said, trying hard not to be too annoyed with Niall because there's no way he could have known that Liam was trying to chat up the bar-keep.

"We're doing shots back in VIP, Harry's piss drunk. You've gotta see it mate. It's hilarious," Niall remarked, before chuckling loudly, that infectious laugh of his that Liam could never resist. He found himself smiling along with Niall despite his earlier irritation.

"Any of those shots left? I could use a drink," and Liam was really being honest. He needed a drink to keep his mind off beautiful, exotic boys with chiselled jaws.

Liam let Niall drag him back to the VIP section of the club where they found Harry flirting relentlessly and drunkenly with Nick Grimshaw, a DJ on BBC Radio1 that they'd befriended not so long ago.

"Oh Jesus! I knew I shouldn't have left that boy alone," Niall said with an exasperated sigh. "Gotta go pull him off before he does something he'll regret," he said as he tripped his way over to where Harry was drunkenly twerking on Nick.

To be fair, Nick didn't look like he minded all that much, but Nick wasn't who they were worried about. Harry was.

Harry was romantically inclined. He loved being in a relationship and loved the idea of being in love. This had resulted in a string of relationships that didn't last long because Harry would go in too fast and too hard often leaving his significant other still at the starting line and they just couldn't handle it. This left Harry lonely. Lonely and in need of companionship.

Yes, Harry had Niall, Liam and even little Taylor and they sufficed most days but Harry needed more. He couldn't come home to them after a long day of work, he couldn't cuddle up to them after a bad day and he certainly couldn't spend his off days laying around on the couch with them exchanging lazy kisses while watching stupid, sappy romantic comedies. So Harry did what he could to fill the void. Including, taking home people he knew only wanted him for the fame and exposure.

Harry had been in the spotlight since he and his best friend Niall had been 16 and 17. They had been fooling around in the studio one day, putting together a demo that they didn't really plan on sending out, Niall did all the technical work and the guitar, while Harry wrote the songs and sang them. They were just messing around not expecting anything to come of it, when the owner of the studio had heard them and suggested that they perform at the studio's monthly open mic nights. What the studio guy had neglected to mention was that these open mic nights were frequented by record label scouts looking for up and coming talents.

Harry and Niall figured it couldn't hurt to perform just the once and get a feel for the stage so they signed up. After they had performed, they were sat at the bar when they were approached by a man in a fancy suit who had told them he was from Syco and was interested in signing them. A month later the boys had been signed with Syco and were working on their debut album. After 3 very successful years of working with Simon Cowell the boys decided to not renew their contract with the company. Although they had gained a lot of success with them, Harry had felt a little stifled and Niall wasn't really interested in performing anymore. Syco had pushed for Harry to release pop records that were nothing but catchy melodies and Harry really only wanted to sing his own music, that he wrote, that was less about what the market required and more about making people feel something.

So the boys went off and started their own record label. Harry was free to release whatever type of record he wanted and Niall could focus on what he really wanted to do and that was producing.

Together they released Harry's fourth studio album, which was a far cry from the stuff he did with Syco. The album topped indie charts and Harry's fan base evolved and grew from screaming teenage girls to hipsters and muso’s who frequented grunge bars and vintage coffee shops.

A year into their new record label, he and Niall had discovered Liam, a single father who worked part time at a coffee shop while he put himself through training to be a fireman. Liam was singing at the shop's open mic night and from the moment he opened his mouth, Harry knew he was perfect for NHS records, their label. The boys and Liam had hit off right from the start and with the amount of time they spent together working on Liam's debut record they soon became best mates.

Liam's debut, like Harry's record, topped charts and soon NHS records became a well-known and coveted label with quite a few of the industry’s most successful acts on their roster.

This was what had earned Harry his fame and fortune. And this fame and fortune was what Harry used to fill the void in his life and to keep the loneliness at bay. Most people around Harry were after fame by association with him, it's not that he didn't know this, it's just that acknowledging it meant that he would have to go home alone every night and he would much rather have someone using him for fame sharing his bed than no one at all.

One such person was Nick Grimshaw. They had met Nick only a few months ago when they had gone in for an interview. He was new to the breakfast show and though he was already quite well-known, he wasn't famous just yet. He had gotten a lot of press lately since he started hanging out with Harry and Harry wasn't blind to the fact that that was the main reason Nick was around. Niall and Liam of course weren't fans of Harry's friendship with the older man but they could do nothing but quietly disapprove because there was no talking Harry down from the ledge once he'd made his mind up to jump.

Liam sighed as he watched Niall try to contain the mess that was drunk Harry.

**~*~**

Harry was drunk and he was intent on not going home alone, even if it meant he had to take home Nick. He was busy dancing on Nick, putting on a show he hoped Nick wouldn't be able to resist when he was grabbed unceremoniously by the arm.

"Heeeeeey!" Harry whined as he came face to face with Niall.

"Hey, Haz," Niall said with a tight smile. "I found Payno. He's still sober as a judge. I need you to help me get him smashed!"

Harry knew that Niall was just using Liam as an excuse to get him away from Nick but was too drunk to really protest as Niall pushed him towards a table in the centre of the room where Liam sat waiting with half a dozen shots in front of him.

"Nialler, you're mental mate if you think I'm drinking all of these shots alone." Liam said as they staggered up to the table.

"Come on Payno! Live a little! It's your party, you’re supposed to get smashed!" Niall said over the music. Harry, ever the diplomat, piped in then.

"Niall and I will take the other four. How about that Li?" he drawled out. Liam nodded as he let himself get duped into drinking two vodka shots in quick succession. He felt himself become light headed as the alcohol burned its way down his throat. After a minute he felt invigorated. He felt like a new person, all of a sudden he didn't care what anyone thought and he was confident and happy.

An hour later he found himself on the dance floor surrounded by gyrating bodies. Liam didn't feel like himself, he felt different but he didn't care because for the moment he felt seen, there on the heated dancefloor surrounded by bodies competing for his attention. Except, the only person he was interested in giving his attention to didn’t want it.

A couple of minutes later, drunk on vodka and precarious overconfidence, he tripped his way to the bar where he was met by Michelangelo's David himself. God! He had forgotten how perfect this guy looked. What did he say his name was again? Zack? Zeke? Zen? Zayn! That was it.

"Zayn!" Liam shouted as he stumbled his way to a seat at the bar. Liam couldn't be too sure but he could swear he saw a smile twitch at the corners of Zayn's lips as he made his way up to him.

"I would ask you if you wanted a drink but it looks like you've had more than enough," Zayn said, allowing himself to smile only a little at the dopey drunk man in front of him.

"Ah, but there's something else you could do for me." Liam slurred, eyes heavy lidded.

"Call you a cab?" Zayn asked, amused by the drunk boy with plump cherry lips and cheeks that were flushed from too much alcohol.

"No!" Liam said firmly as he could in his drunken state. "Come home with me." he blurted out, the alcohol leaving him with no filter for what he said.

His drunk brain had decided that this straightforward approach would work. It certainly would have with any other person in that club that night and he didn’t see why it wouldn’t work on the bartender. Anyone would be so lucky to land in a pop star’s bed. Whole careers were known to be built on it.

"What?" Zayn asked amused at first until he realised Liam was dead serious.

“Come home with me.”

Anger sparked up in Zayn. He was just starting to allow himself to believe that maybe Liam wasn't another rich asshole and he couldn't have been more wrong.

"I know that's what you want. That’s what everyone in here wants. You can tell everyone that you bagged Liam Payne. You want that don’t you? 15 minutes of fame and stuff," the ' _that's all anyone ever wants'_  is what Zayn picked up from the sad glint in Liam's eye as he spoke and he might have actually felt sorry for him had he not been offended by the proposition.

He'd already allowed the other man's puppy eyes and endearing smile to lull him into a false sense of security with him and he wasn't about to let that happen again. He couldn't overlook the fact that Liam had just tried to pick him up like he was some cheap, fame-chasing rent boy. This made him so angry that he couldn't stop himself from leaning over the bar and grabbing the singer by the lapels of his expensive jacket.

"I thought you were different from all these others, but clearly I was wrong," Zayn sneered, his face a mere inches from Liam's. "You're as big of an asshole as the rest of them! I'm not for sale, even if you are Liam fucking Payne!" Zayn finished, then pushed Liam back into his seat with as much force as he could and turned and walked away.

He was ready to take that smoke break he’d been putting off all night. He was too mad to care if he got fired for attacking the guest of honour or leaving the bar unmanned.

Liam was frozen in shock. Not just from being manhandled by tiny, thin Zayn like he was nothing but from his own actions. The flash of anger in Zayn's eyes had sobered him up quickly enough to realise how crude and pompous he was acting. That wasn't Liam. Not at all. It was the alcohol and the insecurities talking and now he had ruined the little chance he had with Zayn. It was all for the best anyway, he thought to himself because _beautiful people don't belong with ordinary boys disguised in fame._

He slinked away from the bar and back to the VIP Lounge where he proceeded to get even more shitfaced than before.

At some point in the early hours of the morning, Liam allowed Niall and Harry to drag him into a car and home. By then he had drowned himself in enough alcohol to momentarily forget the beautiful boy with stubbled cheeks and perfect hair.

**~*~**

It was almost 3am when the club began to clear, and Zayn tried his best not to notice as two guys dragged a piss drunk Liam out of the club.

By 5am Zayn was finally done with the clean-up and cashing up of the bar and left to head home.

As he walked home, which was on the other side of town from the club, Zayn went through half a pack of Marlboro's trying to take the edge of the previous day off. He made it home at about 6am, too tired to do anything else, he shucked off his uniform and got into bed.

**~*~**

Liam woke up the next morning hung-over as hell and to a phone call from a very annoyed PR agent. He was ordered to put on his computer and look himself up, he wanted to protest, ask the person on the other end of the line if they knew what time it was but decided that sassing the guy wouldn’t help so he did as he was told. He typed his name into the google search bar and was immediately faced with many articles, reporting on his drunken state the previous night.

After a long lecture and an official story to give to press about his ‘altercation’ with someone in the club (he was supposed to pretend he was just messing around with a mate), he was finally allowed to hang up.

He couldn’t remember much about most of the night. The last memory he had was of getting manhandled by the fit bartender after he had made a complete arse of himself.

He groaned at the recollection because that was not him, it was the alcohol that made him behave so badly and it made him cringe to think that that bartender (What was his name again?) would forever remember him as the prick popstar who tried to hit on him all the while calling him a gold-digger. Honestly Liam wasn’t like that and he really wanted to apologise to the guy but he didn’t even really know who he was. Maybe he’d see him again, one day when Niall inevitably dragged him back to the club and he’d apologise then.

Maybe.

**~*~**

"ZAYN! Zayn mate wake up!" Louis, Zayn's best friend and flat mate, shouted as he came barrelling into Zayn's room. Zayn tried to ignore him but Louis started jumping on his bed, shouting for him to wake up.

"Loueh! Fuck off, yeah." he said turning over to try and go back to sleep.

"Zayn, I got the part mate. Wake up! Zayn, I GOT THE PART!"

"Loueh! What the hell you talking about? What time is it?" Zayn asked, sitting up. He'd given up on trying to sleep when Louis was clearly excited about something.

"8am."

Great, no wonder Zayn felt like he had just been hit by a bus, he'd only gotten two hours of sleep in before his obnoxious best mate woke him up.

"Anyway," Louis barrelled on, "remember that part I told you about? The lead for a play directed by Ben Winston, the most famous theatre director in the world?"

"The one you swore would make your career?" Zayn asked, still a little groggy from the sleep or lack thereof.

"Yes! I just got a call from my agent and I got it. I GOT THE PART ZAYN!" Louis screeched jumping up to resume his bouncing on Zayn's bed.

"Wow! That's amazing yeah Lou! I'm happy for you bro," Zayn said, genuinely excited for his friend.

"Now can I go back to sleep please?"

"Only if you promise to come out with me tonight to celebrate?"

"Of course you knob. Now get out so I can get some more sleep." Zayn said giving his mate a big hug before curling back up and sleeping.

 

Louis had not expected to get the part. He had been to many auditions over the past year trying to break into musical theatre, but the industry was tough to break into when there was many a hopeful wanting to make it in.

When Louis' agent had sent him to the audition for the lead role in Ben Winston's new play in the West End, he hadn't expected to get the part. Ben Winston was one of the most well-known directors in theatre and his shows were always hits, winning award after award and always garnered A-list audiences from actors to musicians to other directors. Basically, a part in a Ben Winston production was a golden walkway to a great career. So naturally Louis had figured a newcomer, still green and fresh out of acting school like him could never land such a big role but he had still put his all into the audition and it seemed to have paid off.

When his agent had contacted him early that morning Louis could not believe it. This was it. This was his chance to break into theatre in a big way and Louis couldn't wait. His agent faxed over all the details regarding rehearsals and all the rest. Louis couldn't believe it, in 3 months he, Louis Tomlinson would be playing a lead role in a Ben Winston production in the West End. All he could think was, _'watch out world because Louis Tomlinson is on his way up'._

**~*~*~*~**


	2. The First To Admit That I'm Reckless...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the positive responses to the previous chapter. I appreciate you not only taking the time to read my fic, but also leaving the kudos and the comments.
> 
> Please feel free, once again, to comment, critique or even vent/gush in the comments. I really enjoy reading your comments and reactions to the story.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**& && months later &&&**

“Come on Liam, please mate. I’d ask Niall, but he’s in studio tonight.”

“Harry mate, you woke me up at 6 in the morning to ask me to see some play with you? I got back from a promo tour just last night. All I want to do is rest up tonight so I can spend some quality time with my daughter when she arrives tomorrow.”

“You can rest all day Li. The show isn’t until 7 pm tonight and I promise I’ll have you back home by 11 pm. Please, Li! I already promised Ben I’d make it to the show’s opening night and I really don’t want to disappoint him.”

“Harry…” Liam said exasperatedly, knowing that his resolve was crumbling the more Harry begged.

Liam wasn’t trying to be a twat or difficult or anything, it’s just that he was right knackered. He’d been out on the road promoting his new album and upcoming tour for the past two months and all he wanted to do for the next couple of weeks before rehearsals for tour started was to sleep and spend time with Taylor, his daughter, whom he hadn’t seen in a while. Now Harry was asking him to give up his last free night at home to go see the opening of some musical in the West End.

“Come on Li-Li, please. Don’t make me go alone,” Harry begged in that deep drawl of his.

Liam sighed.

“Yeah, okay Haz. I’ll come,” he conceded.

“Yes!” Harry cheered over the phone. “I’ll pick you up at 6 so we can grab a drink before. Thanks, Li. You’re the best.”

“Yeah, okay mate,” Liam said before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Trust Harry to wake him at such an ungodly hour on one of his last days off just to ask him to see a play with him.

Liam shook his head fondly as he scooted back down onto his pillow and cuddled into his plush duvet. He tried to go back to sleep but he just couldn’t. This always happened to him. Once he was woken up there was no going back to sleep.

Resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t be getting any more sleep that morning, he got up and decided he may as well go for a morning jog. He hadn’t been able to do that on the road and he suddenly had an entire morning’s worth of time to kill, so he got up, pulled on a pair of joggers and a t-shirt, his trainers and headed out the door.

**~*~**

 

It was a weeknight and usually, Zayn would either be at the library studying or he’d be working a shift at _Modest!_ But that night was a special night. That night Louis was making his debut in the West End and Zayn couldn’t have been more proud of his best mate.

He had managed to get Zayn a ticket to see the show and so Zayn was getting ready.

Louis had left much earlier because he had to do vocal warm-ups and make-up and all other things that theatre stars went through before shows, leaving Zayn to stew over what to wear.

He figured that plays were usually formal affairs so he eventually settled for a black suit he’d only worn once before, for his father’s funeral.

It was a bit of a morbid memory but he figured it was time he attached a happier memory to it and what better occasion than the beginning of his best mate’s career?

Once Zayn was dressed and had his hair styled in what was known among his colleagues at _Modest!_ as his signature quiff he was out the apartment and on his way to cheer Louis on.

**~*~**

Liam and Harry were seated in one of the balconies in the large theatre as everyone found their seats and waited for the play to begin. Harry was in good spirits that night, though he’d never admit to it, he was excited about the production. Liam knew that Harry had a bit of a soft spot for theatre productions but being the too-cool, indie hipster that he was, he could never admit to it, after all, he had a reputation to uphold.

As they sat waiting, Harry kept up a constant stream of chatter, giving Liam all the random and mostly useless facts about the production that he could.

“You know, apparently Ben got a new actor for the lead role in this play. That’s rare. Usually, he gets more experienced actors, but he says this new guy is amazing. Guess we’ll see.”

Liam just nodded along not really paying much attention to the curly lad, too tired to and also missing his little girl.

After a few minutes, the lights in the theatre flickered, signalling for everyone to take their seats. After another couple of minutes, the lights began to dim and the spotlight came up onto the figure of a lad, sitting in a chair centre stage as the piano opened for the first song.

When the actor began to sing, it was astounding. He had a beautiful, raspy voice, which reverberated off the theatre walls. Liam was so taken by the lad’s performance that he didn’t notice that Harry had gone perfectly still beside him. His breathing halted for a moment as he watched on. 

Liam's attention was diverted away from the stage by a sharp intake of breath from next to him. He looked at the younger lad and Harry looked all but stunned as he watched on, captivated and momentarily lost to the world.

Liam didn't believe in love at first sight but the look on Harry's face told him that maybe he needed to reconsider that notion.

**~*~**

After the curtain call, Harry and Liam headed backstage to congratulate Ben, the director, on a great production.

When they met up with him, Harry could not wait to ask about the lead actor, of course, Ben was all too willing to introduce the two to him. Ben walked them through the crowded passages of the backstage area until they came to a stop outside a changing room with the name **LOUIS TOMLINSON** written on the door. Ben knocked on the door and a slightly higher pitched voice called for them enter.

Ben entered first followed by Harry, while Liam entered last taking in his surroundings before he looked to the actor who seemed to have been with a friend. When Liam's gaze came to focus on the friend, he could feel the blood slowly drain from his face as his eyes stretched impossibly wide at that familiar face that looked back at him coolly.

"Louis! I hope you're not too busy because I have two people here who wanted to meet you," Ben said to the actor who hadn't seemed to have looked at them yet.

"Of course. Never too busy for a couple of admir-" the words seemed to cut off as he noticed and then recognised their faces.

His eyes stretched as wide as Liam's had upon entering the room and his mouth seemed to open and close without a single utterance. It took a moment for him to regain his composure as he finished his earlier statement with more bravado than before.

"Never too busy for a couple of admirers," he said, clearing his throat afterwards.

"Wonderful! Well, I must be off. There's a couple of things I need to see to. Louis, I trust you'll take care of these two, yes?"

"No problem Ben. You’re in _very_ good hands, lads," he replied, smirking at Harry.

"Good. Well goodnight, and wonderful performance tonight. See you tomorrow."

With that Ben left the, leaving the four men in the room in a bit of an awkward silence.

After gaping at the actor for a moment, Harry seemed to have come back to himself enough to properly introduce himself.

"Hi!" Harry said in his deep drawl as he clumsily made his way across the room to shake the actor's hand, tripping over his own feet just as he reached him.

"Oops! Careful there Curly!" Louis said as he reached out to steady him.

"Sorry! God, I'm such a klutz sometimes. I'm Harry, by the way, and this is my mate, Liam," he said, indicating Liam who had moved to stand just behind Harry.

"Lovely to meet you, lads," Louis replied shaking each of their hands in turn. "I'm Louis."

"Great to meet you mate. Wonderful performance out there. Really, well done. It was a great show," Liam piped up.

"Thank you mate."

Louis turned to Zayn who had been quietly observing the entire scene as it played out.

"This uh, this is Zayn," he said as a bit of an afterthought, as though he had forgotten that Zayn was there. Harry's smile seemed to falter a bit when he managed to pull his gaze away from Louis and took in the man with the sharp cheekbones and the light honey-coloured eyes.

"Hello," he said a little more soberly than he had with Louis. His smile didn't seem as wide this time too as he reached out a less eager hand to shake Zayn's.

"Hi," Zayn nodded as he shook Harry's hand, noting the subtle difference in the way he had greeted Louis and the way he was now greeting Zayn. "I'm Louis' best mate and flatmate," he clarified for Harry.

Zayn's quiet and observant manner usually meant that he was good at reading people and the things that went unsaid like Harry's instant jealousy when Louis introduced him. He must have obviously thought he was Louis' boyfriend or something and Zayn wanted to set things straight because he could tell from Louis' heart eyes that he had taken a liking in the curly-haired baby deer. And if it happened to clarify things for a certain other brown-eyed pop star in the room then he could blame it on happenstance.

When he pulled away from Harry he gave a quick sincere smile at the realization that washed over Harry's face before the younger lad returned it with one of gratitude, letting him know that he understood what he had done and he appreciated it.

Zayn's gaze then fell and lingered on Liam. He was careful to keep his face as neutral as possible now not knowing how to react to seeing the singer again, after the way they had parted the last time they had been in each other’s presence.

Harry stepped back to make room for Liam to shake Zayn's hand. Zayn wasn't sure what to do or say though. Should he acknowledge that they had met before? Or should he feign having no recollection of that night?  After all, Liam probably didn’t.

"That's my friend Li-" Harry started as Liam stepped up but was interrupted by the man himself.

"It's okay Haz. Zayn and I have actually met before," Liam said, a sheepish smile pulling at the corners of his cherry lips as a blush tinted his cheeks a faint rose colour.

"Don't know if you remember?" Liam tacked on quickly when Zayn's face still betrayed no emotion leaving the _'beautiful people don't usually remember ordinary guys like me'_ to hang in the air between them.

As if Zayn could ever forget those plump, pink lips or those annoyingly endearing puppy eyes or the way his cherub cheeks puffed out and the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Who could forget someone so beautiful?

But that's not what Zayn said because he could be a bit of a prick when his pride and ego had been dented.

"Kind of hard not to when you all but called me a gigolo," he replied flatly.

Liam's cheeks immediately turned fuchsia as Harry and Louis exchanged confused glances.

The silence hung thick and heavy in the air but the tension was lost on Louis and Harry who were shamelessly ogling one another while Zayn glared at a pink-faced Liam.

"We just wanted to come in here and congratulate you on an amazing performance," Harry spoke up finally, once he’d managed to pull himself back into the moment.

"You were just fabulous out there, really wonderful," he drawled out, his eyes never leaving the man who looked even more stunning up close than he had on stage.

Those topaz blue eyes held the gaze of his emerald greens so intently that it felt a little as though he was looking into his soul. Could he see how much Harry liked him already? Could he see that Harry was almost already planning the rest of their lives together?

"Why, thank you Curly. I'm a fan of your work too, you know."

Harry blushed then and broke their eye contact in favour of looking at the ground for a second. He needed to get himself together, this man had knocked him off kilter a bit and he needed to find that charm he was so well-known for.

 After taking a second to compose himself and locate the charismatic Harry he knew he was, he looked back up.

"You know, Liam and I would love to take you two out for a celebratory drink," he said, allowing his face to shift into that easy lopsided smile he knew could charm the pants off of anyone, woman or man.

"You know what, Curly? I was just telling Zayn here how parched I am. I would love a drink."

Zayn gave Louis a confused look, effectively distracted from scowling at Liam.

What Louis had in fact been saying before Harry and Liam had walked in was how knackered he was and how he couldn’t wait to get home and into bed with some lemon and honey tea for his voice.

But, Zayn wasn’t going to be the one to correct him, not when the look his best mate threw in his direction said, _shut it or else..._

"Wonderful!" Harry said, trying to hide his excitement but in the end doing a horrible job of it.

"Let me just get my things, yeah? Then we'll be off," Louis said turning to gather his things.

"Actually," Zayn spoke up, "I'll have to take a rain check. I have an early class tomorrow and it's already quite late," he said looking at Louis apologetically.

"That's okay mate, will you be okay to get home?" Louis asked his friend.

He didn’t seem too bothered by Zayn ditching him, much to Zayn’s relief.

"Yeah, I'll just take a cab." he nodded as he began to make his way to the door.

"I'm quite knackered. Think I'll head home too," Liam added.

It wasn't a lie.

He was still worn out from the promo tour but not enough to miss out on going out. But, he told himself that he did it so he wouldn't be stuck playing the third wheel, definitely not because he got excited at the prospect of possibly sharing a cab with a certain handsome bartender.

"Oh, all right," Harry said, not sounding at all disappointed that his mate wasn't coming out with him.

"You take the car, I'll ride with Louis," he said turning to Louis, "If that's all right?"

"Is this an elaborate kidnapping scheme, Curly?" Louis asked jokingly raising an eyebrow at Harry.

"Not unless you want it to be," Harry smirked and they both chuckled at their awkward attempt at flirting.

"Yeah, okay we can take my car," Louis agreed.

Harry tossed his keys to Liam who had gravitated towards the door where Zayn stood.

"Can I give you lift home, Zayn?" Liam asked.

"No, I-" Zayn began.

"Don’t be a twat Zayn. Let the nice man give you a lift," Louis said while shrugging on his jacket.

 Zayn knew that once Louis was involved he really had no say in the issue, so he just shrugged.

"Okay then, shall we head out?" Liam asked, fighting hard to keep the ever-growing smile from his face. Zayn nodded before turning to Harry and Louis.

"Good to meet you Harreh."

Harry nodded.

"See you at home Lou," Zayn said.

Liam said his goodnights and led the way out of the building to Harry's car.

**~*~**

As Liam and Zayn settled themselves in Harry's Audi, the tension was still palpable between them.

Liam had chanced glances at Zayn as they were making their way out the theatre but the other man had kept his face carefully blank and he could not get a read on him.

The silence became too heavy for Liam, who had always been a little neurotic when it came to awkward silences. He always felt the need to fill them with even the silliest of conversations. So finally, he brought himself to say the words he had been desperately wanting to say to Zayn since that night when they first met.

"I'm sorry."

He turned slightly to face Zayn who was in the passenger seat.

"I know I made an arse of myself that night. There's no excuse for it and I hope that you can forgive me, Zayn."

' _even though beautiful people aren't supposed to give ordinary people second chances, not even first chances'_ seemed to ring out in the silence that followed Liam's plea even though he did not say it out loud.

Zayn could read the sincerity in the soft set of Liam's eyebrows; the glimmer of regret in his chocolate-brown eyes and the slight frown on his cherry lips.

He almost fell for it. He almost told him that he was forgiven.

He wanted to ask him why someone like him even cared whether Zayn rejected his apology or not. He was certain that there were millions of people in the world who melted at the sight of his smile, and whose dreams were filled with his face. So why did it matter if Zayn was the one person who wasn’t blinded by the bs?

He had pride and Liam was nothing but an entitled pop star, who thought that his fame and money could cheapen anything and anyone enough to buy. And this reminder helped him steel himself against any affection for the self-deprecating singer that was creeping up on him.

"That's all right, nothing I haven't had happen before, from your lot," he said, the last part he spat out, like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Liam had been looking at him quite hopefully, no doubt thinking Zayn would cave. But, when the words were out and lingering around them, Liam’s face fell. It made Zayn inexplicably want to erase the seconds it took for the words to leave his mouth, and maybe be a little less sharp.

But it was done, and Liam looked visibly hurt and Zayn felt like shit for being the one to have done it.

Up until that point, Liam had been stupid enough to hope. He had hoped that Zayn would see past the falseness of the persona he had taken on that night, and possibly past the wall-flower blandness and forgive him. But that had been a foolish hope because clearly even his fame and fortune could never make him worthy of this man beside him.

Zayn heard Liam audibly choke on the air before falling completely silent for a moment after which he composed himself enough to speak again.

"Where am I taking you?" he asked quietly, heart heavy with the thought that Zayn would never allow him to make this right. Zayn rattled off his address as Liam entered it into the SatNav.

As they pulled into traffic, Zayn reached for the radio, turning it on as if to drown out the tense silence. The music seemed to do little to ease their tension and instead added weight to Liam's already heavy heart. The music seemed to build on his despondency as his heart bled in time with the song.

_**…I know in my heart you're not a constant star…**_


	3. A Shining Distraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter for you! 
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> As usual, comments and kudos are very much appreciated.

Louis had spent the morning cleaning out his usually messy room. He'd texted Harry to come over and he needed the place to look at least livable, in case things got that far with Harry. He didn't have to bother with the rest of the flat because Zayn was a neat freak and always made sure that everything was spotless. As he finished cleaning his room, he heard keys in the lock and the door opening. He made his way to the living room and was met with the sight of

He didn't have to bother with the rest of the flat though because Zayn was a bit neat freak and always made sure that everything was spotless. As he finished cleaning his room, he heard keys in the lock and the door opening. He made his way to the living room and was met with the sight of

As he finished cleaning his room, he heard keys in the lock and the door opening. He made his way to the living room and was met with the sight of a very exhausted looking Zayn lying on the couch, one arm thrown over his face and his backpack sitting next to him.

"Hey! You're back early today." Louis said staring at his exhausted friend.

"Had a late shift at the club last night and early classes today," he mumbled.

"Sorry mate," Louis said sympathetically. "Listen, I hope you don't mind but I invited Harry over today,” this news seemed to peak Zayn's interest as he popped open one eye.

"Again?" he asked, bemused. "You two are sickening," he said without venom.Louis stuck his tongue out at him.

Louis stuck his tongue out at him.

Harry had been hanging around a lot since he and Louis met a few weeks ago. Zayn was glad that his best mate seemed to have found someone he hit it off with. He was actually quite fond of Harry too. The handful of times they had met he had seemed like a decent bloke.

"You two are getting quite serious then?" Zayn asked with a grin.

"Hope so," Louis said sheepishly.

"I really like him Zayn. It's those dumb curls and those stupid green eyes. They’ll be the death of me," Louis said while shaking his head like he was so disappointed in himself.

Zayn just laughed at his friend.

"I'll stay out of your way then." he laughed, "just try not to fuck on the couch, jizz stains are hard to get out.”

“You would know,” Louis replied, pulling a cushion from the love seat and throwing it at Zayn who only laughed harder.

 

**~*~**

 

About an hour or so later, the doorbell rang signalling Harry's arrival.

Louis all but skipped to the door, excited at the prospect of gazing upon those emerald greens again.

When he opened the door he was met with unruly curls held back by a headscarf and a gigantic smile.

"Hey!" Louis beamed. Before he looked down and noticed a beautiful little girl, with blonde ringlets, also held back by a headscarf, and brown eyes beaming up at him. He knew immediately who the little girl was.

Harry had gushed about her many times on their dates and conversations.

"And who's this little lady?" Louis asked, bending to the little girl's level.

"Hello, I'm Taylor!" she said confidently.

"Hi there Miss Taylor, I'm Louis," he said shaking her hand before standing back up to meet Harry's fond gaze.

"Hi Lou," he greeted him, that smile getting impossibly wider the longer he looked at Louis.

"Hope you don't mind, Li has rehearsals so I'm babysitting. I know we had plans but I figured you wouldn't mind," he said hopefully.

"Of course not Haz. I've been wanting to meet the infamous Taylor," Harry chuckled. "Come on in."

As Taylor and Harry made their way in, it was only then that Louis noticed the batman bag hiked up on Harry's shoulder.

As they made their way into the living room they were met by Zayn leaving the kitchen with a glass of water in hand.

"Hello Zayn," Harry said with a big smile.

"Hey Haz. How are you, bro?" Zayn asked, his eyes still heavy from his nap.

"All right,” Harry replied.

Then a little voice spoke up from beside Harry.

"Hello,” it chirped.

Zayn looked down and was met with a beautiful little girl with familiar brown eyes. He smiled warmly at the little face as he got down to her level.

"Hello princess, and what's your name?"

"I'm Taylor," she said, her voice high and full of confidence and enthusiasm only a child was capable of.

"Nice to meet you, Taylor, I'm Zayn."

They shook hands and exchanged beaming smiles before Zayn stood back up.

"Tay, why don't you take this and go settle on the sofa while I chat to Lou and Zayn for a bit?" Harry said to the little girl, handing her the Batman bag. She nodded eagerly and went over to the couch.

"Who does that little princess belong to then? Don't tell me you've been hiding a kid Haz?" Zayn joked while looking fondly at the little girl now seated on the couch, pulling out some toys to play with from the bag.

"That's my goddaughter Taylor. She's Liam's,” Harry replied.

Zayn's heart stuttered a bit at the mention of Liam's name.

That made sense, those brown eyes had looked familiar, now he knew why.

He didn't know Liam had a child, somehow this made him seem less like a pop star far removed from reality and more human and normal.

He simply nodded.

"I thought you two lovebirds were spending the afternoon together, just the two of you?" he asked.

"Haz is babysitting for Liam while he's at rehearsal," Louis stated.

"Sophia, was supposed to have her but she and her husband couldn't get back in time," Harry finished.

Zayn nodded again in understanding. He assumed that Sophia was Liam’s sister or another friend but made no point to ask.

"Well, if you lads want me to, I can like keep her company while you love-birds hangout? I don't have any other classes today and I'm not working tonight either so I'm free." Zayn offered.

"We couldn't ask you to do that mate," Harry protested.

"You looked like you were about to pass out just an hour ago mate, you sure you don't need to get more sleep?" Louis asked.

"Lou, I'm fine. I took a nap, I feel better now. Besides I love kids and I know how to look after girls, I do have 3 sisters, two of them younger, after all."

"If you're sure Zee?" Louis said, already giving in at the thought of having Harry to himself.

"Yeah, you two go ahead."  

"Thanks, Zayn," Harry said as he let himself get dragged away towards Louis' room.

Zayn smiled after them before making his way to the couch where Taylor was seated playing with a Barbie doll and a batman figurine.

"Hey Taylor, your uncle Harry and Lou have gone to take a little nap, do you mind if I keep you company?" he asked the little girl.

She nodded her agreement before handing him the Barbie doll and keeping the Batman figurine for herself.

"Do you wanna play with me? You can be Barbie," she said. Zayn couldn't help but chuckle as he nodded and took the doll from her.

 “So you like Batman, huh?” he asked her as they played.

She nodded, “He’s my daddy’s favourite, and my daddy’s my favourite so I like him too.”

And, well that was pretty sound logic from a four-year-old. He hadn’t much liked her dad when they’d met, but he was doing something right with that little girl. So Liam couldn’t be that, could he?

They played for a while before Taylor got bored. They stopped and chatted for a little bit, Taylor asking Zayn questions about his tattoos which she so aptly referred to as 'colourings' and told him that her daddy had some too and other things.

A while after midday Louis and Harry had yet to emerge from Louis' room, but Zayn hardly noticed because he was too engrossed in the little girl. Spending time with her reminded him of his youngest sister, Safaa, and eased his longing for his family.

After Zayn made lunch for himself and Taylor, which she had insisted that they eat at the table because her daddy told her it wasn't good to eat in front of the telly, they put on Toy Story which she had brought with her in her batman bag and curled up on the couch.

Zayn took that opportunity to do some of his coursework, while Taylor cuddled up to him, deeply enthralled in the movie until she fell asleep.

She woke up an hour later full of too much energy to sit still so Zayn decided it was time to start preparing dinner and enlisted her help.

She stood on a chair while she washed out the vegetables and helped Zayn season the chicken then watched for a little bit while he cooked. She asked him dozens of questions, some related to cooking others completely random.

Then Zayn got her to set the table, showing her where everything was as she hurried around the kitchen adorably setting up as she was asked. When she eventually got bored, Zayn put on another movie for her to watch while he finished up with the dinner.

He was just checking the table settings when the doorbell rang. Zayn checked on the food one last time before making his way to answer the door. When he pulled the door open he was met by brown eyes and a soft smile.

"Hi!" Liam said.

"Hey," Zayn replied suddenly unable to think of any other form of greeting.

"I'm here to get Taylor. Harry said they'd be here?" for a moment Zayn could not think, lost in staring at the other man.

“Zayn?” Liam said, trying to get the other man’s attention. Zayn shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts that seemed to consist of variations of "hot" and “sexy” to describe the man that stood before him.

"Oh, right. Yeah, sorry, bro. Come in," he said finally stepping aside and opening the door wider for Liam to enter. "She's just watching a movie. Should be done in a few."

Liam nodded, standing awkwardly in the little foyer. "Would you like a drink so long?" Zayn offered.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Zayn gestured for Liam to follow him into the kitchen where he handed him a soda instead of a beer. Liam raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're driving home aren't you?" and Liam couldn't help but chuckle. Of course, this beautiful, mysterious demi-god would also be morally conscious.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks," he said accepting the drink. Zayn nodded as he went about checking on dinner again.

"I hope Taylor wasn't any trouble to you, I know she can be a little ball of energy when she wants to be," Liam said, his tone dripping with endearment and pure unadulterated love.

It made Zayn smile to hear how much he cared for his child.

"No, not at all. You have a lovely kid there Liam," Zayn smiled as he turned to face Liam.

"She's wonderful, isn't she?" Liam smiled proudly.

That smile alone said a thousand words. It told of how much Liam loved his daughter, how she was his proudest achievement and that did things to Zayn’s heart that he couldn’t explain.

He thought about kissing that smile but quickly caught himself, reminding himself that Liam was just another entertainer who thought of him as nothing more than a cheap lay.

"Yeah, she really is. We had a lot of fun together," he said instead, focusing on the one good thing that he knew about Liam: his daughter. As he finished his sentence Taylor came running into the kitchen.

"Zaynie! The movie’s finished," she said running towards Zayn, not noticing Liam in the corner of the small kitchen. "Is dinner ready yet?" she asked as Zayn picked her up and held her.

"Dinner's almost ready princess. But first, look who's here," he said turning her in Liam's direction.

"Daddy!!!" she squealed, the biggest smile Zayn had ever seen on anyone stretched across her cherub face.

"Hello angel," Liam said returning the child's enthusiasm and adding a tender smile. "Doesn't daddy get a 'hello' kiss?" Liam asked.

"'course you do daddy."

She wiggled in Zayn's arms and he set her down.

She ran to Liam, who squatted down to receive a butterfly kiss from the little girl.

Once he was standing upright again she tugged on his hand to get his attention, which had momentarily been occupied with admiring the soft smile and adoring gaze Zayn had directed at his little girl. A warm feeling spread through Liam as he watched the tenderness with which he watched her like she was the most precious thing in the world, and she was in Liam's world.

"Daddy, today was so fun," she started, with unbridled enthusiasm. "Zaynie and me played with Batman and Barbie, then we watched a movie and then Zaynie made me yummy sandwiches for lunch and he let me help him cook too. He's my best friend! You know, he's got colourings on his arms like you daddy," she prattled on, barely taking a moment to breathe.

Liam couldn't help but chuckle at how happy she was, as a father he lived to make his daughter happy so to see her so content and excited made him want to hug whoever was the reason for it tightly...but he couldn't.

He and Zayn were still on quite awkward ground. So he hugged the centre of his world instead and she squealed in delight.

"I'm glad you had fun Tee."

As they hugged Louis and Harry finally emerged from the bedroom, looking loved up and thoroughly debauched.

Zayn internally thanked Allah for the sound proof walls because judging from the two's dishevelled appearance, things probably got loud.

He smirked as the two walked into the kitchen arms tangled around one another. Zayn couldn't help but notice how perfectly they complemented each other. Louis being shorter than Harry, with a curvier figure and Harry being tall with gangly limbs and a thinner frame. They made an adorable pair if Zayn had ever seen one.

"And the happy couple emerges!” Zayn teased, but Louis and Harry were too busy kissing to even acknowledge him. Liam cleared his throat and the couple finally broke apart and took in their surroundings.

“Oh, hey Li. Didn’t realize you were here,” Harry drawled, his voice huskier than before and his lips swollen from being almost permanently attached to Louis’ all day.

“Yeah, I can see that mate,” Liam chuckled. Louis blushed, but Harry just smiled at him adoringly.

“Anyway, Tee and I should get going,” Liam continued.

“Or you could…stay. For dinner,” Zayn quickly added.

Liam looked him over quickly, trying to discern whether or not the invitation was sincere. He was met with a slightly flustered but still ice cool expression that he couldn’t really read though.

He was about to politely decline the invitation when Taylor tugged on his arm again.

“Daddy, please can we stay?” she begged, her big puppy eyes stretching impossibly wide and Liam could never say no to those puppy eyes and even as young as she was Taylor knew how to wrap him around her little pinky.

Liam groaned internally and a soft inaudible sigh left his mouth before he nodded and said,

“That would be lovely, thank you.”

“Great!” Louis chimed in, “Now what’s for dinner because I’m starving?”

“Physical exertion will do that to you,” Harry added with a smug smile.

“Oi! You two! I don’t need the mental pictures!” Zayn scolded playfully as he went about checking on dinner. “Taz?” he said to Taylor, who immediately ran to his side. “Can you set another place for your dad at the table? You still remember where everything is, right?” he asked.

She nodded and went about the kitchen gathering another place setting for Liam, while Harry, Louis and Liam discussed showbiz stuff that Zayn was not particularly interested in.

Once dinner was done, everyone settled at the table and began to eat, all of them caught up in conversation while Taylor sat quietly chewing her own food.

Liam couldn’t help but sneak little glances at the beautiful man that sat on the other side of his daughter. As he glanced at Zayn he noticed Taylor struggling a bit with her chicken, he was about to reach over and cut it up for her but he was beaten to it by Zayn, who absentmindedly - as if it was something he did every day - pulled her plate to him and began cutting the meat to small enough bites that the little girl wouldn’t struggle anymore as he continued talking to the other lads.

“There you go, princess. Much better?” Zayn asked smiling at the little girl, who smiled back just as widely, nodded and said a quiet ‘ _Thank you Zaynie’_ and went about digging into her food again.

Liam didn’t miss the fond smile that adorned Zayn’s face. He quickly looked away so he wouldn’t get caught staring but it didn’t stop the warm feeling in his stomach, caused by the cute scene he had just witnessed, from spreading throughout his body.

After dinner, Harry and Louis retreated back into Louis’ room while Taylor and Liam insisted on helping Zayn with cleaning up. Once they were done Liam and Taylor gathered her things to leave.

Zayn walked them to the door, carrying Taylor’s backpack while Liam carried the sleepy little girl.

“Thanks for dinner,” Liam said when he got to the door. “It was delicious. Wasn’t it Tee?” he asked the sleepy little girl. She nodded tiredly.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Zayn smiled slightly.

They looked at each other for a long moment, getting more lost in each other’s eyes than either of them would be willing to admit before they were brought back to the present by a husky little voice.

“Daddy?” came Taylor’s voice.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” Liam said, looking at the little girl whose head lay resting on his shoulder.

“Daddy, can Zaynie come to the zoo with us tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.

Liam almost choked on thin air as the words left his daughter’s mouth. He recovered himself though.

“Uh, I don’t know Taylor. Zayn might be busy tomorrow,” he answered, giving him an out but not looking at him because he was too afraid to because if Zayn declined he wasn’t sure who would be more disappointed, his daughter or him.

Taylor turned her puppy eyes on Zayn.

“Pretty please Zaynie? It’s gonna be funner with you there,” she said, adding in a pout to make her case.

Liam had to admit, he was proud of his little girl for knowing how to get what she wanted, even if it was pure manipulation.

Zayn turned his gaze to Liam. He didn’t know what to say. He’d loved spending time with Taylor and really wouldn’t mind going out with them the next day, but things were still a bit tense between him and Liam and he didn’t know whether the other man would mind if he tagged along, he also didn’t want to intrude on their father-daughter time.

But when he looked at Liam he was met by a warm smile and he guessed that that was Liam’s way of telling him that he wouldn’t mind if he tagged along.

“Sounds like fun,” He said smiling at the little girl who cheered sleepily. Liam and Zayn quickly exchanged numbers to sort out a time and place to meet for their outing before Zayn handed Liam Taylor’s backpack and they exchanged goodnights.

**~*~*~*~**

 

 


	4. Falling For Your Fool's Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So firstly I want to apologise for taking so long to update this part of the story. I have plenty of excuses, but I won't bore you with any of them. I'm just going to leave this chapter here and hope against hope that you all haven't lost interest and you will still read it.
> 
> Secondly, thank you for your patience and your support, I hope you won't be disappointed and that you will enjoy this chapter. :)

It was midday and Zayn had just got out of his last class for the day when his phone buzzed with a text.

**From Leeyum** _: Heeeeyyy!!!! We r outside. Tay’s buzzzzzing! :)_

Zayn smiled a little at the text. He had to admit, he was actually looking forward to the outing himself. Something about the prospect of spending time with the man and his daughter had him feeling a little giddy inside, but he wasn’t going to admit that aloud to anyone.

He took a second to shoot back a reply text before making his way to the spot they had agreed to meet at.

**From Zayn** _: On my way. ;)_

**~*~**

When he got to the spot he looked around a bit, not sure what kind of car he was looking for. He was about to send Liam another text when a dark Range Rover with tinted windows pulled up beside him. The window rolled down to reveal Liam leaning over the gear shift with a huge smile on his face.

Zayn couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hop in,” he said as he opened the passenger door for Zayn to get in.

Zayn took his backpack off before hopping into the sleek car. Liam grabbed his bag and reached behind him to set it next to Taylor who was strapped in at the back.

“Zee!!!” she squealed in delight, once he had hopped in. Zayn twisted in his seat to smile at the little girl.

“Hey, Taz! How are you doing Princess?” he said smiling twice as widely at the little girl.

“I’m excited to see all the manimals,” she cheered. Zayn nodded and chuckled at the little girl’s enthusiasm.

“Really? You not scared?” he asked.

Taylor shook her head so vigorously, Zayn was almost scared she’d pull a muscle.

“Nope! Daddy says if you’re nice to the manimals, the manimals will be nice to you. I’m gonna be super nice.”

Zayn chuckled fondly. Well, he couldn’t argue with that point, it was a good one for her to carry through life. He was finding that he couldn’t argue with much that Taylor said because Liam seemed to be raising her with quite a good head on her shoulders. He was impressed, almost to the point where he forgot why he was ever sceptical of the singer in the first place.

 He turned back to Liam, “Hello,” he greeted him too, still maintaining his smile.

“Hello to you too,” Liam smiled back. “Thanks for agreeing to come.”

“No problem. Besides, we’re best friends, aren’t we Taz? And that’s what best friends are for, right?” he said cheekily turning to the little girl once more. She nodded heartily again making both men laugh.

“I thought Daddy was your best friend, Tay?” Liam argued with a slight pout.

“Daddy, Zaynie is my  _other_  best friend. I have two best friends now,” she replied, nodding resolutely.

“And you, what would Louis think about being replaced by a 4-year-old?” Liam teased as they pulled off, “He doesn’t strike me as the type that likes to share.”

“Meh, it was long overdue, to be honest. Reckon I lost him to Haz a while ago.”

Liam chuckled because he could relate. He was seeing less and less of Harry every week lately because his friend was absolutely besotted with Louis and was spending almost every second of his free time with the actor.

“I hope you don’t mind but I thought maybe we could grab some lunch before we head to the zoo?” Liam asked as they headed out of the city.

“Yeah, sure.” Zayn shrugged. To be honest he was quite hungry seeing as he’d been in class since 08:00 that morning and had been late so he hadn’t managed to grab more than an apple to eat before.

They travelled in relative silence with the soundtrack to “Frozen” playing in the background. Occasionally, father and daughter would break into song and Zayn’s heart would do this thing where it felt like it was swelling in his chest from how endeared he was.

Taylor was still young but he could already hear that she’d inherited her dad’s talent.  

The drive wasn’t too long and a few minutes later they were pulling up to a fancy-looking restaurant not too far out of the city. The restaurant was child-friendly, Zayn could tell from the little play park attached to the side as they pulled in but it still looked quite elite.

Liam pulled into a parking spot close to the entrance and they got out.

He was just heading around the car to unbuckle Taylor, but when he got there he found that Zayn had beat him to it. He already had the little girl out and in his arms and the two of them were presently giggling about some inside joke that apparently he wasn’t privy to.

In that moment he was reminded why Zayn was there in the first place. He’d only agreed to come for Taylor’s sake. As they’d driven and he and Zayn had exchanged little looks and little smiles, he’d let himself believe that maybe he could’ve been there for him too, that maybe he’d forgotten that night that Liam himself would love to forget.

The sight of the two of them, laughing together soothed the twinge of something he didn’t want to acknowledge though. So instead of entertaining the bitter feeling creeping up on him, Liam contented himself with watching his daughter looking comfortable and happy in Zayn’s deceptively strong arms. The moment was too pure to break up by asking what they were laughing about so he let them be, walking a half a step behind them as they approached the entrance to the restaurant.

**~*~**

Inside, the restaurant looked even posher than Zayn had anticipated.

The whole space was filled with booths carved out of rich mahogany wood and that were upholstered in dark red and navy blue.

They were led straight to a booth that was close to the exit that led to the playpen. Liam had admitted as they were being seated that they were regulars at the restaurant and they were known for occupying that particular booth because Taylor loved entertaining herself in the playpen while they waited for their food. It was the closest to the pen and Liam could keep an eye on Taylor through the big window while she played.

No sooner had they been seated, Taylor was wiggling off the bench ready to go play.

“Hey, you! Not so fast,” Liam said, effectively stopping the 4-year-old in her tracks.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Uuuuhhh,” Taylor made a big show of thinking carefully about it, but the exasperated and knowing look on Liam’s face told him it was exactly that, just a show. She already knew exactly what she wanted to eat.

“Ice-cream?” she asked innocently, making her pretty brown eyes big and pleading.

Zayn couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his mouth. She was good. That puppy look would have made him putty in her hands, but Liam wasn’t budging, impressively.

“Taylor, you know you have to eat proper food first, you can have ice-cream after,” that was the most stern he’d heard Liam be with Taylor, and even then it was more of a gentle coaxing than a scolding but it worked.

“Nuggets?” she asked, pouting a little because she had not gotten her way.

“Better,” Liam said, nodding his approval. “Right, go on then. I’ll come get you when the food’s here.”

The little girl sped off in a blur of bouncy, blonde curls towards the pen.

“Is that a common argument then?” Zayn asked, amused by the entire exchange he had just witnessed.

“More common than I want to admit,” Liam sighed. “Did you see that look she gave me? The big eyes? I don’t know where she learnt that, but she thinks she can get away with anything with that look. Almost does too.”

“I wonder where she gets it from,” Zayn mused knowingly.

“Are you implying she gets it from me?” Liam asked, pretending to be mortally offended.

Zayn just laughed, playfully holding his hands up in a mock surrender gesture when Liam went to pinch him on the shoulder.

The waitress came by then and introduced herself. She looked to be about their age if not a year or two younger.

She handed them their menus, all the while looking only at Liam and barely taking note of Zayn opposite him.

“Can I get you anything to drink while you look at the menu, Mr Payne?” she asked seductively.

And really, Zayn shouldn’t have been as annoyed as he was at the waitress but he told himself it was because she was practically ignoring him, like he wasn’t at the table, definitely not because of the blatant and desperate display of flirting.

He cleared his throat and the waitress, Julia she’d said her name was, turned ever so reluctantly to him with a smile that was at least a few hundred kilowatts dimmer than the one she’d had directed at Liam.

“Hi, Julia? I’ll have an iced tea, thanks,” he said sharply, even though he had a smile on his face.

The waitress wrote down his drink order quickly and turned back to Liam, eyeing him with a seductive smile.

Liam missed it though because he was too busy watching the exchange with an amused but confused expression. Zayn looked ever so slightly annoyed, despite the smile on his face and Liam didn’t want to assume anything, but he could swear that it had something to do with the fact that the waitress was being extra attentive to him.

“Mr Payne?” she prompted, bringing his attention back to her from where he’d been focused on Zayn.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll have the same and an orange juice for my daughter. Thanks.”

She nodded and smiled sweetly before turning away to get their orders and give them time to look through the menu.

Liam was still looking at Zayn oddly, when the bartender finally asked, “What? What is it, Liam? You’re looking at me funny.”

“I-” Liam started.

He was going to ask if Zayn’s less than polite attitude to the waitress had anything to do with the less than appropriate attention she was giving to Liam but then he remembered that technically, the only reason Zayn was even there with him was Taylor. There was no way that the other man was bothered by seeing Liam being flirted with.

So he went instead with a topic change.

“Harry says you’re studying to become a teacher?”

Zayn ducked his head but Liam could tell that his eyes had a twinkle in them and his smile was soft but proud and determined.

“Yeah,” he said, finally looking up. “Graduating in a few months, actually.”

 “Oh, that’s great, Zayn,” Liam said. He was genuinely happy for Zayn even though he hadn’t known him that long. The little he knew of him told him that he probably deserved the success.

“So, high school or primary school?” Liam asked.

“High school,” Zayn replied.

“Oh really? I thought you might say primary,” Liam admitted, surprised, “You’re so good with Taylor I thought you might teach kids around her age.”

“I thought about it, but my passion has always been writing, poetry and literature. Can’t really teach that to the little ones,” Zayn chuckled.

“Are you sure about that? Because I once came home to find a very lovely poem scribbled on the den wall in crayon once.  _‘Roses are red, violets are blue, uncle Haz is cool and so are you’_.”

Zayn snorted a laugh.

“Okay, sure it’s not literary genius and I’m pretty sure Harry had a lot more to do with it than he claimed, but still you could work with that. You’d probably do a better job than Harry did, anyway.”

“That was terrible! He writes songs for a living and that’s the best he could come up with?” Zayn laughed.

“Yeah, it is pretty awful,” Liam chuckled. “To be fair, he was working with a 4-year-old with very little writing experience. He had to keep it simple.”

They were both still laughing when the waitress returned with their drinks. She made sure to push her ample chest out almost right in Liam’s face when she set his drink down and that sobered up Zayn’s humour pretty fast.

He really shouldn’t have been so bothered by the girl’s desperate attempts to seduce Liam, after all, he didn’t even know Liam that well and it was silly to be jealous when the last time Liam had shown an interest in him, Zayn had almost socked in a club full of people.

Liam noticed that as their drinks were being set down, Zayn had stopped laughing. Instead, he sat with a stoic kind of expression, his eyes trained on the waitress. He hated the silence that had befallen the table in the presence of the waitress so he quickly rattled out his and Taylor’s orders and Zayn gave his, after which Liam effectively dismissed her so he could attempt to lighten the atmosphere at the table again. 

“You all right?” he asked Zayn after the waitress had left with their orders.

“Yeah,” Zayn smiled, slightly, shaking himself out of the mood he was almost dragged into.

“Good,” Liam replied.

 

**~*~**

 

The meal went by comfortably and was enjoyable. The tension that had been between Zayn and Liam seemed to have begun to dissipate as the two made conversation with one another, talking about their mates and families.

Liam found out that Zayn was quite the family man. He worked a job that barely paid enough for him to take care of himself, his tuition and still he managed to send a little home to help his mother out. He could tell by the way that the other man spoke about his mom and sisters that he loved them a lot. This tugged at Liam’s heartstrings and made him want to help the other man out, maybe see if he could use his connections to get him something that paid more. But if he had learnt anything about Zayn in their past encounters, it was that Zayn was a proud man. He did not like accepting help, he would rather work himself to the bone than ask for help, especially from someone he barely knew. So he held his tongue and just listened.

Zayn, on the other hand, learned that he and Liam weren’t that different after all. Where he had always seen Liam as an over-privileged spoiled brat, he learned that the other man actually came from beginnings as humble as his own having worked at a coffee shop to support himself and Taylor before he became  _“Liam Payne, pop star”._ Zayn found that this new information and watching the other man’s loving and doting interactions with his little girl gave him a new found respect for him. It made him seem less a pop star and more like a real person whom he could relate too.

After their meal, which Liam had insisted on paying for – Zayn tried to resist but in the end, it came down to the restaurant being so expensive that it would cost Zayn money he didn’t really have to pay for his meal so he conceded – they headed out and to the zoo.

**~*~**

At the zoo, Zayn watched father and daughter run around excitedly as they watched the various animals and fed the monkeys. It was possibly the sweetest thing he’d ever experienced. He walked a little behind the pair, smiling softly as he watched on.

Even though Taylor insisted that she and Zayn were best friends, he could tell that her true best friend was her father. He saw their closeness in the way that they mirrored each other’s movements, the way they understood each other without having to say or do much and in the way that each pleased the other simply by being there. It was truly a one of a kind relationship, kind of like he had had with his baba before he had died.

The day had been so normal and easy that Zayn had forgotten about Liam’s celebrity status. That is until they had gotten to the zoo.

Liam seemed to get recognised every 5 seconds, there was a constant stream of teenagers and other people coming up to him, some asking for autographs and others for pictures. Liam was such a humble man that he didn’t say no and he signed every autograph and took every picture with nothing but a smile on his face. Even so though, Zayn could tell from the slight tension in his body language every time someone approached him while he was with Taylor that he didn’t really want people getting pictures of his daughter, so every time a fan came up Zayn would discreetly steer Taylor away from Liam and the fan and distract her with an animal or something else until the person had gone. Liam noticed and he gave Zayn a grateful smile that told Zayn that his suspicions had been right and that he didn’t want fan attention on his daughter.

A little while later Liam and Taylor were watching while the zoo staff fed the penguins and the seals and Zayn had decided to hang back at a nearby bench and take it all in. Liam walked back to the bench where Zayn sat, watching Taylor leaning a little on the fence to see the activity.

“Hi!” he said quietly, smiling at him.

“Hey.” Zayn returned with a small smile.

“You okay? You look deep in thought.” Liam observed. Zayn’s thoughts had wandered a bit while watching the family of two that was Liam and Taylor. He wondered about Taylor’s mother. Where was she? What was the situation between her and Liam? Obviously, they had had some type of relationship in the past because they had Taylor together.

“Fine, yeah,” he muttered, still watching the little girl. His head told him he couldn’t ask Liam those questions, that he didn’t have the right to and it would be prying if he did but his mouth beat him to it and before he knew it the question tumbled out of his mouth.

“Where’s her mother?” he asked. Zayn felt Liam tense beside him. The gaze that was once on him, open and warm left him to stare coldly at where his little girl stood, laughing delightedly as she watched the penguins and seals. Zayn regretted the question as soon as he saw Liam’s reaction. He hadn’t meant to upset him, he had just wondered why they rarely mentioned her (not Liam or Taylor).

“Liam I’m so-“ Zayn began to say but Liam was already off the bench and walking away, towards his daughter.

“I should check on Taylor.” He said without even looking back at the raven-haired man.

It’s not that Liam was upset at Zayn for prying, it’s just that the topic of Sophia always brought back with it the old feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. Liam would not deny that she had hurt him, hurt him deep down to his core. He would have done anything for her, he would have given anything for her but that was never enough for someone like Sophia. She had always been ambitious with big plans, plans that did not include a minimum wage earning boyfriend and a baby. So when they were faced with sleepless nights and a crying baby she eventually broke and left without so much as a second glance back at Liam and their daughter. Liam had been crushed when he got home to find Sophia waiting for him with her suitcases packed and he would also never forget the words she’d said to him before she walked out on them:

***** Flashback*****

_“What’s going on Soph? Why are your things all packed?” he’d asked. Desperate to believe that this did not mean what he knew deep down inside it meant._

_“Li, I just…I can’t do this anymore Liam. I can’t keep pretending that I want to be a mother at 18. I’m not ready Li.” Liam wanted to argue that she was doing great, that it would just take a little time to get used to it but he knew that he would be lying if he said that._

_“I want more for myself than a shoebox apartment, a baby and a waiter for a husband living from paycheque to paycheque!” she said. And Liam had to admit that he choked a bit on the gulp of air he had inhaled to try and numb the searing pain in his heart._

_He had watched her over the six months since Taylor had arrived. She had struggled. She’d stopped laughing and she couldn’t even pretend to smile for their daughter. She had slipped into a depression and it hurt Liam to think that not even their little family was enough to pull her through. He had definitely not expected her to come right out and say that they were not enough for her, that they were holding her back. So as much as it felt like someone had stuck a hot poker through his chest and kept twisting, again and again, Liam knew that to argue with her and try to convince her to stay would only make things worse. He would rather his daughter grow up knowing she was loved and cared for than be resented. If he had to love her all by himself without Sophia, then so be it._

_She hadn’t said much more after that, hadn’t even said goodbye to the little girl before she took her stuff and left._

***** Present*****

None of that was Zayn’s fault though. It wasn’t Zayn’s fault that he had gotten Sophia pregnant when they were 18 and 19. It wasn’t Zayn’s fault that she had walked out on him and Taylor and it sure as hell wasn’t his fault that she had re-appeared a year ago claiming to want to be a mother to the little girl.

About a year after she left them, Liam had begun seeing her on the cover of tabloid magazines. She had apparently begun seeing Max George who was a fairly famous singer around the world. It had all made sense to Liam when he saw them. The problem had never been having a family while young, the problem had been Liam. He wasn’t good looking enough for Sophia to want to stay and he sure as hell did not have the fame and fortune she had always desired. Liam had never been quite able to wrap his head around why she was with him even while they were dating, he had been just a bland and boring bloke after all. So when he saw her in the tabloids, out and about, laughing and kissing the singer as though she had not a care in the world, Liam finally understood why she left.

Nevertheless, Sophia was back now. She showed up at Liam’s door spouting some nonsense about missing her daughter and wanting to be a part of her life once again. Liam, still holding on to a lot of resentment from the past, had considered telling her to get the fuck out and never come back but the ever sensible and compassionate part of him told him that he couldn’t just keep Taylor away from her. After all, she was as much Sophia’s child as she was Liam’s. So he’d let her see Taylor.

Only a few months later he had found out why she really came back into their lives. As it turned out, she had come back to save her new fiancé’s image. Apparently, it had gotten out that the squeaky-clean Pop heartthrob, Max George, was going to marry a wannabe model who had abandoned her child a few months after she had the child and this was negatively affecting Max’s fan base and album sales. So Sophia had sought them out not because she missed her child (her own flesh and blood) but because her future marriage to Max was at stake unless she showed the public she was still involved in the child’s life, to uphold the couple’s squeaky-clean image.

Needless to say Liam had been absolutely livid and the next time she had shown up to see Taylor he had confronted her. She admitted to it but also swore that after she had spent the last couple of months with Taylor, she had grown to love the little girl again and genuinely wanted to be in her life again. He had considered filing for sole custody of the child but then he had thought that Taylor did need her mother around, even if he didn’t care much for Sophia anymore, she did and he didn’t want to take that away from Taylor. So he had let her stay in the little girl’s life, even though their own relationship was tense.

Sophia was now married to Max and had somewhat of a modelling career. Liam, although begrudgingly at first, even allowed Taylor to stay with Sophia and Max sometimes and though he didn’t like it, it really seemed as though she was trying. The current arrangement was that Taylor stayed with Max and Sophia mostly when Liam was on tour or when Sophia requested to have her and the rest of the time she was with Liam.

So yes, as twisted and as difficult as the situation was between Liam and Sophia, he had no right to be upset at Zayn for simply asking a question, anyone would have asked. To be honest, Liam had been asked that question multiple times in the past and he had never reacted quite so badly to it. But the problem was not the question itself but rather the person that asked it. You see, every time he looked at Zayn he was reminded of how simply inadequate he was. Like Sophia, Zayn was intelligent, vibrant and beautiful. All the things Liam wasn’t and Zayn bringing up Sophia was a reminder of that. He, much like Sophia, was too beautiful for Liam and he would never be interested in Liam. The feelings of insecurity and inadequacy felt like burning coal in his stomach and reminded him that Zayn was yet another person he was bound to drive out of his and his little girl’s life.

But, again, this was not Zayn’s fault. He had no right to treat him like that. So a while later, after they had done 2 more circuits around the zoo and Taylor had finally agreed that it was time to head home, Liam decided he couldn’t avoid it forever. He had to apologise to Zayn. While they trailed behind the little girl who skipped ahead of them, hands full of stuffed animals that both Zayn and Liam had spoiled her with, Liam decided to take the moment of privacy they had to apologise.

“Zayn?” he said quietly.

“Yeah, Leeyum?” the other man said, turning his amber gaze from where it had been trained on the ground to Liam.

“I’m sorry, yeah? For the way I reacted earlier,” he said a little hesitantly, not knowing how the other man would take it.

Zayn just nodded and said, “Okay.”

Liam, though, wasn’t quite satisfied. He felt he needed to explain more to Zayn because they had made such progress with each other in the past few of hours and he had seen how all of that progress regressed after the incident and he wanted more than anything to get them back on track.

“Look, it’s not that I’m still hung up on her or anything. It’s just that things kind of ended terribly between me and her and…I’m just not ready to talk about it yet. I’m not saying I never will but I’m saying that for now, I just can’t.”

Zayn met the other man’s chocolate brown gaze and what he saw in Liam’s expressive eyes broke his heart. He could see pain, he could see a little self-loathing and a lot of self-doubt. Whatever had happened with Liam and his ex had caused him a lot of heartache and Zayn, in that moment, wanted nothing more than to pull him into a tight hug and hold him until it all faded. But he couldn’t because they didn’t know each other that well. So instead he settled for gently patting the other man’s shoulder.

“It’s okay Liam, right? Maybe one day we’ll talk about it.” He smiled gently at the bigger man, who returned it with a slightly sad smile.

With that, the two caught up with the little girl and made their way to the car.

**~*~**

As they approached the car though they noticed that there was a swarm of paparazzi surrounding Liam’s car. Someone must have tweeted about seeing Liam at the zoo. Liam immediately went into protective mode as he picked his little girl up in his arms and pushed through the throng of cameras and people shouting various things at him.

_“Liam! Is that your daughter?”_

_“Liam!! Who’s your friend?”_

_“Where’s Sophia Liam?”_

_“Are you and Sophia having a secret affair?”_

_“Where are Harry and Niall tonight?”_

Liam liked to think that he was quite courteous to paparazzi, he often at least smiled and waved at them, but only when he was alone. Now, with his daughter getting anxious in his arms and with Zayn lost somewhere in the crowd, he couldn’t be courteous. He found himself getting quite annoyed and angry in fact. Did these people have no respect? He was with his 4-year-old little girl and they were scaring her. Liam found himself getting a little more aggressive than he usually was.

“Get out of the way! Move!” he shouted as he barrelled through, one arm balancing his daughter on his hip, another pushing through paps.  As he reached the back door of his car, one of the more bold paps stepped out of the crowd and tried to grab his daughter by the arm so he could get a shot of her face, which she had had buried in Liam’s neck. Liam felt white hot anger course through him and he turned to try and push the guy away but someone was already pulling the pap back by the scruff of his neck. Zayn had pushed the guy away and it seemed that he was currently engaged in a bit of a scuffle with the guy. Liam quickly buckled Taylor into her car seat and closed and locked the car doors before heading over to where Zayn was still arguing with the pap and pulled the raven-haired man away.

“Zee, come on! It’s not worth it. Let’s go.”

But Zayn seemed to have been quite riled up by then and was still going at the guy.

“Zayn!” Liam almost shouted. Zayn seemed to snap out of it and calm at the sound of Liam’s voice “Come on! Let’s go.”

He turned around then and walked back towards the car with Liam’s hand at the small of his back, guiding him.

When they got in the car, Liam turned to check on Taylor.

“Hey Tay, you all right baby?” the little girl nodded. She seemed shaken but other than that she was fine.

“Are you all right?” Liam asked, turning back to the passenger seat next to him, where Zayn was still seething but seemed to have calmed a little.

“Yeah. Fine,” Zayn said. Liam nodded, started the car up and pulled out of the lot. They drove in silence for a while before the tension started to dissipate.

Liam thought back to the scene at the parking lot, how Zayn had quickly come to his daughter’s rescue, willing to get into a fight with some crazy paparazzo to protect her and he couldn’t help but feel grateful to the other man.

“Thanks,” he said at the same time Zayn had just let out a quiet, “Sorry.”

“No, please Zayn, don’t apologise. What you did out there was brave and I’m grateful that you stopped that guy,” he said, giving a reassuring smile.

“Really?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, really,” Liam smiled, wider this time.

“Okay,” he said, looking a little more relieved and less tense now. It was silent for another moment when Liam broke the silence.

“Are you busy tonight?” Liam asked in what he hoped was a casual tone.

“Nah, I have the night off from work tonight. Why?” Zayn asked.

“Well, I uh…was hoping that maybe you…uh” Liam broke off to clear his throat before continuing, “would like to have dinner at my place, with Tay and I,” he finished quickly. “Just to like say thank you for almost beating that guy up for us?”

Zayn chuckled at that last remark and at how nervous Liam sounded. Truthfully he was relieved that Liam hadn’t written him off as some loose-cannon-maniac for what had happened back at the zoo. He didn’t know why, but he already felt quite protective of the little girl, and so when he had seen that man reach out and grab her arm he had seen red. He didn’t regret going after the guy, he just regretted that Liam, and possibly Taylor, had seen him like that.

“Sounds great,” he answered.

“Good,” Liam said sounding pleased. “I mean I don’t cook as well as you do but I can order a mean take out meal,” he smiled.

Zayn could not be blamed for the stupidly fond smile that pulled at his lips while he stared at Liam as he drove. Who could blame him when sitting next to him was possibly the biggest most handsome goofball he had ever come across?

On their way to Liam’s place, they stopped by an Italian pizzeria to grab a couple of pizza’s to take home with them.

**~*~**

When they arrived home it was a little after dusk.

Liam went about putting plates out for them on the breakfast island in the kitchen, while Taylor went to wash up for dinner. Do you mind warming up the pizza while I quickly make a phone call? Zayn nodded while Liam grabbed his cell phone off the counter and went to the lounge.

In the lounge, Liam quickly dialled his PR people.

“Hello? Yeah can I speak to Glen please?” he waited for a second while the call was being connected.

“Glen? It’s Liam. Listen, I was mobbed by paparazzi today, outside the zoo while I was with Taylor and a friend. I’m afraid that pictures of her and a scuffle that broke out between my friend and one of them might be published. Is there any way you can pull them before they do?” he listened while the man on the other side of the line reassured him that the pictures would be tracked and taken care of before they were published.

He thanked Glen before he hung up and returned to the kitchen to find Zayn putting pizza on three plates.

“This is quite a home you’ve got here Liam.” Zayn complimented as Liam sat at one of the tall chairs surrounding the marble breakfast counter.

 “Thank you.” Liam said sincerely, “I’m quite lucky that I can afford a place like this now.”

Zayn was more than stunned when they had first pulled up to the enormous house. It was gorgeous and open and had more glass windows and doors than it had concrete walls. And inside it was decorated like something out of those interior design magazines, but at the same time, the house had some warmth to it. It felt homey and comfortable and there were traces of the 4-year-old girl everywhere, whether it was a stray toy in the corner of the living room or dozens of pictures of her and Liam adorning the walls in every room of the house and her artwork on the fridge.

“You know, sometimes I still wake up thinking that when I open my eyes it will all have been a dream and I’ll be back in my shoddy apartment and I’m always so thankful when I’m not,” Liam continued. Zayn couldn’t help but feel the fondness creep up on him. He had been so wrong about Liam before. He had thought he was an over-privileged, egotistical pop star who did not realise how lucky he was to be so well off, but today he had been proven wrong time and time again. Just listening to Liam talk about Taylor, about singing and about his life before, he knew that Liam was a good guy, one of the very few that deserved every bit of the wealth and good life that he had.

When Taylor returned from washing up, they all sat around the counter eating pizza and chatting about the day’s events. Taylor took centre stage of the conversation as she talked about everything from her favourite animals in the zoo to her friends at playschool while Liam and Zayn gave her their undivided attention, answering her questions and laughing at her antics. It all felt so comfortable and natural like Zayn had always been around.

For the first time since Sophia had left, well if he was being quite honest it was the first time ever, Liam felt a sense of family return to their home.

**~*~**

After dinner, they cleaned up and then – at Taylor’s insistence – played a few games before Liam gave her a bath while Zayn explored the large house. Once he was done bathing her she again insisted that Zayn read her a bedtime story. Once she was asleep Zayn and Liam made their way downstairs.

“So what did you do while I was gone?” Liam asked.

“Just explored this mansion of yours,” Zayn replied.

“Oh really? Find anything interesting?”

“Well actually, I noticed that you have quite the collection of Marvel movies?” Liam chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, sorry you had to see that. I’m a bit of a geek you see. Never outgrew comics,” he said sheepishly.

“Really?” Zayn asked.

Liam nodded.

“Me too. I’m a bit obsessed with the Hulk,” he smiled.

“I’ve always liked Iron Man and Batman meself,” Liam admitted, no longer ashamed now that he knew Zayn shared his love for superheroes and comics.

Zayn nodded. That would explain why Taylor had a Batman backpack and figurine. She seemed to have been influenced by her dad. Another thing that warmed Zayn’s heart about Liam’s relationship with his daughter.

“Wanna watch one? I’ll let you pick,” Liam asked.

“I thought you’d never ask Leeyum,” Zayn said as he headed for the DVD rack near the large plasma television in the lounge. After much deliberation, they finally agreed on watching  _The Avengers_  seeing as there was a healthy dose of Bruce Banner and Tony Stark to satisfy both of them. Liam got some popcorn and sodas while Zayn put on the movie.

When he came back into the room Zayn was already lounging on the couch, waiting for him.

“We good to go?” Liam asked as he set the bowl of popcorn and the sodas down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Yeah, movie’s all set,” Zayn replied as Liam took a seat next to him. “Leeyum? Can I ask you something?” he said tentatively.

“Yeah, shoot,” Liam said distractedly as he got himself comfortable and searched for the remote control.

“Tell me to fuck off if I’m prying – again – but why don’t you want the media to get a picture of Taylor? Like are you hiding her or summat?” Liam stopped fidgeting at that second and looked up at Zayn. His gaze told Zayn that Liam was sizing him up, trying to figure out if he would understand his reply or not.

“No Zayn, I’m not trying to hide my daughter. Everyone knows I have a kid. I’m just trying to protect her.”

Zayn looked at Liam a little quizzically at that, and Liam quickly rushed on to explain.

“I want her to have as normal a life as possible, despite my career, you know? And the only way to keep her out of all of that is to keep her out of the gossip rags. She’s not going to have a normal life if her face is plastered all over rubbish gossip columns every other week. So I just, I would rather not have them take her picture.”

Zayn nodded in understanding and admiration. He admired the lengths Liam would go to, to protect his daughter’s anonymity and therefore her freedom to be a kid without the burden of fame and a recognisable face.

“You’re a good dad Liam,” he said quietly before Liam pressed the play button on the remote and they sat back to watch their movie.

They sat side by side as they did so, both mouthing the words to their favourite scenes. As the movie progressed the two sat closer and closer together until they were both practically cuddled up to each other.

By the end of the movie, it was late and Zayn had to head home. Liam called him a cab while Zayn gathered his things. When it arrived Liam walked Zayn to the door.

“Thanks for coming out with us today,” Liam said quietly, a small smile playing on his lips.

“It was my pleasure, I had fun. Well except for the little incident at the end.”

They both chuckled a bit at the recollection of Zayn’s little tussle with the pap earlier in the evening.

In the silence that followed they held each other’s gazes for a long moment. The silence was a comfortable one, one that fell between two old friends; that spoke volumes even though nothing was vocalised. Only the night crickets could be heard and the crunching of gravel under tires as the cab made its way up the long driveway of Liam’s home. The space between them had lessened in the time they stood at the door. Neither of them had realised it when it happened but they were now a mere inch apart.

With Liam so close to him, Zayn lost cognizance of his surroundings as the sounds of the night turned to white noise and his sights focused solely on Liam’s chocolate brown gaze.

For a moment Liam felt paralyzed by Zayn’s penetrating gaze on him. He felt incapable of doing anything but staring at the surreal gorgeousness that stood before him. As he gazed on, he felt Zayn’s breath caress the skin on his cheek, a warm and welcome contrast to the cool night air. For the first time since he had met Zayn, he was close enough to really smell him, to pick apart the different notes in his scent. He smelled of spicy cinnamon with a hint of nicotine masked by something minty. It smelled good to him, it smelled like comfort, warmth and acceptance. Liam leaned in slightly, drawn by the scent and caught by the amber gaze.  He began closing the gap between them but as he did so, his insecurities crept in, telling him he was stupid to think that someone as perfect as Zayn would want to kiss him. He obviously wasn’t good enough for this angel that now stood in his doorway haloed by the golden light of the porch lamp. He, Liam James Payne, the chubby kid that got bullied at school, that was never bright enough, athletic enough or attractive enough to get noticed by anyone, was definitely not good enough for Zayn who was beautiful and intelligent and so much more. So he stopped mid-lean.

Zayn’s heart had picked up pace when Liam had begun to lean in. His lips tingled in anticipation, and finally, when he thought the moment had arrived, Liam stopped, a hair’s breadth away from Zayn. Zayn locked his gaze on Liam and saw in Liam’s eyes the insecurity, doubt and need battling for dominance. He also saw fear and another emotion he recognised from when he had brought up Taylor’s mother, reflected in his eyes. If Zayn had learned anything that day, it was that sometimes Liam lacked in confidence – despite being a devilishly handsome megastar with a heart of gold - and needed the extra push. So he took the initiative and closed the distance between them. If only to reassure Liam that he too felt it. He felt that undeniable connection that seemed to click into place as they spent the day together. He too felt that unfathomable sense of belonging and homecoming being in Liam’s presence and he too wanted to explore this enigmatic whirlwind of confusion, attraction and desire.

At first, Liam froze as Zayn brought his hand up to cup his cheek. It took a moment for him to realise what was happening. And then it hit him, as the feeling of Zayn’s soft lips meeting his coursed through him.  Zayn was kissing him. This unreal, stunning, wonderful man was kissing him and he had done it of his own volition. He had kissed him because he wanted to. Elated by this realisation, Liam brought his hand up to gently tilt Zayn’s chin upward. Now that Zayn was kissing him, Liam had to make the most of it. After all, it had to be a fluke, a momentary lapse of judgement on Zayn’s part. One that he would regret later, but Liam couldn’t find it within him to care because he had him now and if that’s all he would get he would take it and make it enough for himself even if he would always want more.

When Zayn had leaned in, it was meant to be a simple, chaste kiss before he got into the cab and went home. But as his lips touched Liam’s and as he watched all the doubt and hesitation dissipate from Liam’s eyes, replaced by realisation, desire and need and he couldn’t help himself. He wanted more from the kiss. As their lips moved in unison, Zayn carefully and gently licked against Liam’s lower lip, asking for entrance but not pressuring him. To his delighted surprise, Liam opened up immediately with a silent gasp. To Zayn, it felt as though Liam, with that one silent gasp, had breathed air into him. It felt like a cool summer breeze on a humid day. It was refreshing, it was new and it felt like relief. It felt like a realisation, a realisation that this was it. This was the moment he had waited for his entire life. Through losing his baba, through struggling and near-poverty, through sleepless nights of working and dead-tired days in classes he had often wondered what it would all culminate to. He had wondered if Allah had been testing him, challenging him to see if he was worthy of the great moment that he would surely reward him with. He had thought that that reward would be success with his studies and finding a job that would allow him to look after his mom and his sisters. But now, as the full majesty of being held in Liam’s arms and exchanging such an intimate, loaded gesture with him hit, he realised that this was it. It was that moment of reward for rising to the challenges that had come his way. Even as he took it though, he did not feel worthy. Surely someone had to do something great or be someone great to receive such a gift, to have this handsome, kind and successful man show such intimate interest in him. Surely Allah had been mistaken to send such a man to someone as lowly as him.

The kiss deepened as Zayn’s tongue danced around Liam’s. He tasted like salt and sugar from the popcorn and sodas they’d had earlier. Zayn gave a nostalgic smile into the kiss. Kissing Liam wasn’t like discovering something new like it usually felt when he kissed someone for the first time. Kissing Liam was like remembering something he had long forgotten. Kissing Liam felt like coming home or stepping into your favourite, old shoes: comfortable and familiar. The kiss lingered between them for a moment before Zayn forced himself to pull back. He took a moment to close his eyes and let the feeling of the kiss envelop him as he took in Liam’s scent, wanting to engrave this moment into the recesses of his mind forever. Liam smelled of musk and fresh soap and an expensive cologne that Zayn did not recognise. So that was it then? That’s what the greatest moment of his life smelled like. He liked it. Once his breathing had evened once again he finally opened his eyes and met Liam’s warm, caring gaze.  He cleared his throat.

 “Was that all right?” he asked, voice husky from momentary disuse. He asked not to get a rating out of ten from Liam but rather to ensure that the other man was fine about Zayn having taken it upon himself to kiss him. There was a moment of tense silence between them, not for the first time that day, as Zayn saw a flicker of doubt in Liam’s eyes before the other man answered.

“Perfect,” he replied. The fleeting doubt seemed to have gone and firm in its place was now amazed certainty.

Liam smiled at him, a gentle sort of smile, which Zayn returned. He doesn’t know how long they stood there just taking each other and the moment in but they were soon brought back to the present by a piercing and impatient hoot.

“I should probably go,” he said, his thumb pointing at the cab that had now pulled up a few feet from the bottom of the stairs. His face was flushed and he had a shy smile. Liam was too stunned at the overload of feeling and emotion that now coursed through him to give a coherent response, so he simply nodded and watched as Zayn took the steps two at a time and with one last shy little wave disappeared into the cab.

Liam stood at the door watching the departing cab until its lights disappeared down his long driveway before stepping into the house and leaning back against the now closed door.

He couldn’t believe it. Zayn had just kissed him. Beautiful, gorgeous, stunning Zayn had kissed him, boring, bland, ordinary Liam Payne. He couldn’t help but smile as he headed upstairs to bed.

**~*~**

**From Zayn** _: Goodnight Liam. Call me soon, yeah? xx_

**~*~*~*~**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :)
> 
> If you enjoyed this please leave kudos and comments and if you really, really enjoyed it please share it.


	5. Like a Boat on the Water

At 6 o’clock Liam’s alarm went off. He reached over tiredly and felt around for the snooze button. He was on a break from work, but he liked having a routine to keep him from pulling his hair out from boredom. So every morning he woke up, got 30 minutes in his home gym, then woke Taylor up and got her ready for school.

Most days he didn’t mind waking up. He was actually a morning person, much to Niall’s dismay. But this particular morning he was too tired and he decided to put off his workout till later and get another 30 minutes of sleep.

You see, he hadn’t slept much the previous night. After Zayn left, which was already quite late, he just laid in bed running the events of the day over and over again in his head. There seemed to be a swollen balloon stuck in his chest, keeping him from falling asleep.

And just when he thought he’d calmed down, his phone vibrated on the nightstand, alerting him of a text that had just come through.

It was from Zayn.

It didn’t say much. It was just a simple goodnight text with a note that Liam call him but it may as well have been a declaration of love because his organs all just seemed to lose the plot all at once. Suddenly his pulse quickened, his lungs seemed to have forgotten what their function was and his stomach was doing somersaults, keeping him awake for another two hours, just trying to calm himself down.

That morning though, he’d just thrown his arm over his face, ready to go back to sleep when heard the door to his room creak open and quiet feet padding on the plush carpet. He stayed still, pretending to be asleep as he waited to see what mischief his daughter would get up to.

Taylor was always up to something, and Liam loved that about her although it kept him on his toes. Once, when she’d snuck into his room like this, he’d woken up with marker drawings all up his arm. There were various misshapen hearts and flowers that had definitely not been there when he’d gone to sleep. Part of him hoped there would be no marker involved this time because it had been a pain to scrub it all off that time.

He felt the bed dip ever so slightly and the sheets rustle as Taylor crawled up to his side.

She was still for a little bit, and Liam pretended to snore really loudly, causing the little girl to giggle, before quickly stifling the sound with her hand.

He opened one eye only slightly, to see what she was up to. But she was just sitting there, staring at him, her little hand over her mouth and her eyes crinkled at the corners in amusement.

He closed his eyes again so as to not get caught out and not a moment later he felt a tentative little finger poke him in the cheek.

“Daddy?”

There was another poke, this time to the nose.

“Daaaaadddddyyyy,” she sing-songed as she booped his nose over and over again.

Liam almost broke character and laughed but quickly schooled his features.

A second later he suddenly grabbed the little girl at the waist and with a playful growl, lifted her onto himself and began to tickle her.

She gave a surprised shriek and began to giggle as Liam tickled her.

He loved that sound. The tinkling sound of her giggles was what he lived for.

“What do you think you’re doing, huh little Miss?” he growled into her neck as she laughed.

He continued to tickle her as she shrieked in laughter, occasionally he took an elbow to the face. Eventually, she couldn’t take anymore as she squealed, “Daddy, stop! Too tickly!”

She squirmed to get out of his grasp but he caught her as she was making her escape, pulling her into a big cuddle and blowing raspberries into her little neck.

Taylor giggled some more, warming Liam from his chest out.

“What are you doing up so early, huh?” he asked her once they’d both calmed their giggling and they were lying back, cuddled together. Taylor had her little chin resting on her hands on his chest, looking at him all smiley-eyed and happy.

“Not tired anymore,” she answered.

“Not even a little bit?” he asked.

Taylor shook her head vigorously, her head of ringlets bouncing around in all directions.

“Oh, okay. Wanna help daddy pack your bag for school?”

Taylor’s smile dimmed at the mention of school which caused Liam to frown too.

“Wanna stay home, with you,” she pouted, head still firmly on her father’s chest.

“Your friends are going to miss you if you don’t go see them, you know.”

Liam was using his best gentle but firm voice. Every once in a while they had this conversation. He always felt like she could sense when a tour was coming up, she probably picked it up from conversations she’d overhear, but either way she became a little attached to Liam when he was about to go off on tour and he’d have to fight himself and the guilt to not let her get away with skiving.

Her little face crumpled up like she was about to cry when she realised she wouldn’t be getting her way. Which only intensified the guilty feeling in his chest.

“Hey, come on. It’s just for a little bit, darling.” Tears began to collect in her eyes and Liam sought any idea he could think of to keep her from crying.

“I’ll tell you what, after school, we can do whatever you want, okay?”

She nodded reluctantly, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

“Can we play with Zaynie again?”

“I don’t know, he might be busy darling," she frowned, her face already crumpling again. "But I’ll ask him, okay?” he said quickly to avoid the tears. She nodded her acquiescence.

“All right, now let’s go make your snacks for school.”

Liam lifted his daughter off his chest and onto the carpeted floor before following suit.

“Race you to the kitchen!” he shouted as the two of them took off running toward the door.

~*~

After the school run, Liam stopped by his favourite coffee shop for a brew. He liked it there because it reminded him of a simpler time, so to speak.

He was sitting at a little table in the corner, listening to a younger lad singing on the little make-shift stage when Martin, the owner, strolled up to him.

“Don’t tell me you’re here looking for your old job already, lad.”

“Nah, I think I’m sorted for a bit.”

Liam chuckled at his old boss. He’d worked there for a while before Niall and Harry had signed him. He remembered the time so vividly that it felt like it was only yesterday.

His feelings toward the place were more than just fond nostalgia, they were more a genuine gratitude for helping him get through maybe the toughest time in his life.

When Sophia had left, Liam had thought he’d have to give up the job to take care of Taylor, but Martin and his co-workers had all rallied around him. His boss had allowed him to bring a niggly seven-month-old baby to work and everyone would chip in taking care of her in the breakroom throughout the shift.

He’d built himself a little family there, he reckons, although most of his co-workers like Isabel and Tyler had since moved on, having graduated and gotten themselves better jobs. He didn’t see them anymore when he popped by on a nostalgic whim, but Martin was always there for a bit of banter and a lot of wisdom and advice.

“How are you doing, Marty?”

“I’m all right, lad. More than, actually. You just keep mentioning that we make the best coffee in them interviews of yours and I reckon we can keep our doors open for a while.”

After getting his big break, Liam had wondered about ways to give back to his old boss for his support when things couldn’t have been going worse for him. And when he’d heard that the shop was in financial trouble because of the franchise coffee shops popping up everywhere, he’d thought about offering to help by maybe signing a cheque. But he knew Martin would never accept the money. The man was as proud as he was stubborn. Always glad to help but wasn’t so good at accepting help but wasn’t so good at accepting the same in kind. So Liam had started mentioning the coffee shop in his interviews. He’d talk about how he used to work there when the question of previous jobs came up, drop it in when the question of what he did on a day off came up etc. He’d hoped that with the amount of influence he seemed to have on his fans, that some of them might get curious and show up to the shop and maybe stay because it really did have some of the best coffee.

“How are you? You looked like you had summat on your mind when I came up to you,” Martin observed.

Actually, when Martin had walked up Liam had been typing and retyping a draft text to Zayn.

He wanted to invite him out again, partly because Taylor had asked him to but also because he kind of really wanted to see him again too. But every time he’d type something out, he’d delete it, too nervous to actually press  _ **send**_.

“Oh, I know that look! That’s the look you had when you came in here pouting about, what was her name again? Daniella? You still haven’t asked her out then?”

Liam had no idea what the look the old man was talking about was, but he’s pretty sure he hadn’t been pouting that day, months ago, when he’d off-loaded about his unrequited crush on Danielle, one of his dancers. He’d just found out she had a boyfriend and had needed an ear to vent, maybe whine about his luck with women, but he was definitely not pouting.

“Well, no. She’s still got a boyfriend.”

“Ah, well it’s gotta be someone else then. Only a woman can put a crease that deep between a man’s brows.”

Liam blushed. It wasn’t until Martin had said that, that Liam had thought about  _who_  he had kissed the night before. He’d kissed another  _bloke_. That night at his launch party he’d come onto a  _bloke_.

“What’s this one's name then?” Martin asked, his brow rising in interest when he noticed the colour in Liam’s cheeks.

“Uh,” Liam hesitated. He didn’t know Marty to be bigoted. The man ran a coffee shop that was often populated with all sorts of people and he’d never once seen him say or do something unkind to someone because they seemed different. But that didn’t guarantee that the man would be quite comfortable with Liam confessing his attraction to another man to him.

“Is it another one of your dancers? Or a Yankee model this time? You know, back when I was in college before  I met my Sheila, I went out on the lash with the lads and ended up taking home an American bird. Fast forward a few years, open the newspaper and there she is, apparently a famous model. I al-”

“His name is Zayn.”

Liam didn’t mean to cut Martin off but throughout the anecdote, he’d been psyching himself up to say the words and he felt like if he waited any longer he might chicken out. So he’d gotten the words out as quickly as he could.

Martin blinked at him, Liam could tell he was trying to keep the surprise off of his face but he’d caught a glimpse of it, nonetheless.

“Well,” the old man said, obviously trying to find something to say, “my pal, Doug, always said that kind of thing is a spectrum. Like a rainbow. You can be the red or the violet or you can fall somewhere in the middle.”

Liam had a vague idea of where his old boss was going with the analogy but he almost wanted to laugh at how bad it was. But the older man was trying to be accepting and the least Liam could do was to not laugh at his fumbled attempt.

“So this lad, do I know him? Is it that tall one with the flowery shirts and the curly hair? One of the girls says he’s gay. You two ...”

Liam did laugh this time.

“No, it’s someone else. He’s uh, he’s really fit though.”

He blushed again at the thought of Zayn and the fact that he’d just said those words out loud to a man he considered pretty much a second father.

Martin smiled gently at him, his eyebrows forming a concerned curve.

“You always did have an eye for the pretty ones,” he said. “Reminds me of an old song about fools and gold or summat. Didn’t go so well last time, just be careful this go around, all right?”

When  Liam met his eyes they were no longer squinting into a smile, they were wider and more intense, a little clouded with concern.

“Well, I have to get back to work. Can’t sit here nattering with the famous all day!”

The older man stood up and Liam stood with him.

“Thanks, Marty.”

He didn’t need to say what for because they both knew. The older man smiled, pulling Liam into a hug.

“Anytime, lad. You need to bring that little lass of yours by sometime, I haven’t seen her in ages!”

“I will do!” he smiled after they pulled away.

With one last nod, Marty went back to work, leaving Liam to ruminate over their conversation.

He realised that he’d just had his first ‘coming out’ because that’s what that was and would be every time he told people about Zayn. Because unlike Harry, he hadn’t been openly gay or bi or queer since he was young. He’d mostly been able to get by with people thinking he was straight because he’d dated girls thus far. But he’d always known that he could be with a guy. He’d been attracted to a few over the years but not to the level that he had actually wanted to date them like he thought he might with Zayn. He didn’t think his family would mind either, his mum always said she just wanted her kids to be happy and his dad, he knew that the man loved him and he hoped that that would be enough to get them through that awkward conversation when the time came.

He was just finishing up his coffee when his phone began to vibrate on the table.

He watched as it danced around on the table, the display showing a name he would have answered to within the first ring only a few minutes ago. But now, as he watched the screen flash, all he could think of were Martin’s words earlier.

_“Didn’t go so well last time, just be careful this go around”_

He looked over to the counter where the old man was handing over a styrofoam cup to a customer. Their eyes met briefly and Martin smiled at him in what Liam interpreted as pity. And that only strengthened his resolve to ignore Zayn’s call as he got up and left the shop.

 

~*~

 

Later that night, when Liam climbed into bed he was acutely aware of the differences in his mood between that night and the previous one.

Last night he had lain there feeling giddy and excited. Zayn had kissed him and he’d felt a little like he was floating. Last night it had all seemed so simple. Liam liked Zayn and Zayn liked Liam as well. That was all that seemed to matter then. He wished it had remained that clear and simple.

But tonight it felt a lot different. A cold sweat was breaking his skin and it seemed a lot more complicated.

It suddenly felt like a risk with familiar consequences.

This...thing that he felt for Zayn had been so sudden and so intense from the first time he’d seen him, but now that he was in with a chance it seemed... _dangerous_.

He was too willing to hand himself over to this virtual stranger, to be loved and to be validated by him even though past experience told him that it couldn’t end well.

He’d been here before, well not exactly because this insane infatuation with the bartender felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. But he had done this before, fallen for someone, given his all to them and then been left to raise a child and pick up the pieces of his shattered heart all alone. He couldn’t do it again.

He had Taylor to think about. She was at a very impressionable age, old enough to see things and be impacted by them. And if he did this thing with Zayn, it would surely end the way he and Sophia had and Liam would not put himself or his daughter through that. He would do anything to keep that crinkle-eyed smile on her face. And if it meant denying himself a tryst with a certain bartender to keep both their hearts protected, then so be it.

 

~*~

 

It had been a week since Zayn had seen or even heard from Liam and a week since they had kissed. He had thought he would have spent the time getting to know the other man but instead there was nothing but radio silence.

Zayn had tried the day after they kissed to call him but the phone had rung until it went to voicemail. He’d left a message, trying to play it cool but also trying to let Liam know that he was interested, but his effort was wasted because he got no response from Liam at all.

As the reality of the rejection had begun to set in about two days into Liam’s silence he’d become annoyed with him. If he didn’t like Zayn like  _that_  then he could have just said as much instead of ghosting him.

Sure, it had been a risk and quite presumptuous for Zayn to kiss Liam like he had that night but he’d thought that Liam had wanted to. He’d been leaning in like he was about to kiss Zayn too, or had Zayn completely misread the situation?

He’d racked his brain trying to figure out if he had but nothing led him to believe that he had. Liam had kissed him back and even called the moment “perfect”. If he’d changed his mind why not tell Zayn that and put him out of his misery instead of stringing him along on this chain of uncertainty?

 As two days turned to three Zayn went from mildly annoyed to angry. Who the hell did Liam think he was anyway? Just because he had Hollywood starlets and models queueing up to be with him it didn’t give him the right to play with Zayn’s feelings like he was nothing. Yes, Zayn didn’t have millions and yes Zayn was yet to make something of his life but he was working at it steadily and this did not make him any less worthy of the pop star’s affections. But more than that he was angry at himself for foolishly believing that Liam was different. That he was better than the selfish, self-absorbed, glitter-for-brains elite that frequented  _Modest!_.

He hadn’t meant to, but he had let the whole situation affect him more than he would’ve liked. Over the week he was broodier than usual, snippier than usual and crashed through the apartment like a thunderstorm.

One of the days he had even snapped at Louis for having heavy footfalls when he walked into the kitchen, where Zayn was working on an assignment, to get some water. Louis’ only response had been an indignant scoff before getting his bottle of water and leaving Zayn alone to seethe at his own ridiculousness.

The absurdity of the episode was not lost on Zayn; for one Louis had not been that loud at all and two ripping someone a new one for their footfalls? It was crazy even to him but such was the toll Liam’s flouting of him had had on Zayn.

He didn’t want to be so affected by it. In fact Zayn was no stranger to being rejected by guys and in all of those times, he had never once let it get to him like this. But the part that irritated him the most about this situation with Liam was the fact that it actually hurt.

It felt as though something had a vice like grip on his heart, squeezing the life out of it every time he thought about Liam. He just couldn’t understand the sudden change. That day, when they had kissed, he had thought that he and Liam were on the same page. He had thought that Liam was as attracted to him as he was to Liam. That Liam had wanted that kiss to happen. Had he imagined the connection the two of them shared that day? Had he deluded himself into thinking that the physical and romantic attraction was mutual? If so, why hadn’t Liam pushed him away? Why did he kiss him back if he didn’t return Zayn’s feelings?

Zayn was torn. He wanted to believe that the Liam he saw around Taylor, the one who had been kind and insecure and tentative existed, that Liam wasn’t a pompous, celebrity tosser who played with people’s feelings for sport but as the week stretched on and Liam ignored him, the more the latter seemed more likely than the former.

It was exactly a week after his outing with Liam and Taylor and Zayn still hadn’t heard a peep from Liam. Not that he had been holding on to hope that he would, he had stopped hoping 4 days into the silence. He’d  just thought that Liam was better than that. He’d hoped that the other man would at least have the balls to tell him if he didn’t return Zayn’s feelings, instead of running away from him like a coward. But that’s what Liam Payne was, Zayn had concluded, a fucking coward.

He was still finding other  _colourful_ words to describe Liam in his head when he got home after his classes one day to find Louis and Harry tangled up in each other on the couch, all loved up. He was happy for his best mate. He really was, but it was the last thing he needed to see when he was feeling like a kicked dog after being rejected by a fucking pop star, of all the people in the world.

He barely said ‘Hi’ as he stormed past the loved up couple to his room, unintentionally slamming the door behind him.

The sight of Liam’s best friend lounging on their couch had maybe annoyed him a little more than he would admit.

He dropped his backpack next to the door, flipped his stereo on and flung himself onto his bed, lying on his back as the music began to flood the room.

He was contemplating the cracks in the ceiling paint while listening to Frank Ocean croon about unrequited love – which seemed eerily appropriate for his mood - when Louis burst into his room.

“All right Malik! That’s it! What the hell is your problem? You’ve been pissy all week.”

“Fuck off Louis! I’m not in the mood for your drama queen bullshit right now,” Zayn said, not bothering to look at his best mate standing at the door.

“I know you’re not in the mood, you haven’t been ‘in the fucking mood’ all bloody week!!! You’ve been crashing around here like a fucking hurricane. What’s crawled up your arse then?”

“Nothing, Louis! Now leave me alone, yeah?” Zayn said, finally sitting up to face his friend. But his biting words did little to deter Louis who instead walked further into the room and closed the door behind him before plopping down next to Zayn.

“All right, out with it. What’s got you acting like a first class prick?”

Zayn sighed.

“He’s avoiding me Louis!” he finally replied, throwing himself back on the bed.

“Who?” Louis asked confused.

“I kissed him and now he’s avoiding me!”

“Zayn, what are you talking about? Don’t tell me you’ve been seeing someone behind my back you wanker, because if you have then you deserve it. Whatever whatshisname di- ” Louis said, amused and slightly frustrated.

“It’s Liam!” Zayn interrupted Louis mid-rant. Louis gasped audibly.

“Y-you and Liam?” he asked clearly shocked but he also seemed too amused for Zayn’s liking.

“Don’t start planning double-dates or anything because the wanker isn’t answering my calls or my texts,” Zayn said, pulling a pillow over his face.

“You’ve been texting and calling him? When did this happen? Why don’t I know about this Zayn?” Louis asked seemingly genuinely intrigued and annoyed at his lack of knowledge.

Zayn tried to explain – through the pillow on his face – everything that had transpired between him and Liam to Louis, who upon hearing the last part stormed out of Zayn’s room to unleash his wrath on his poor unsuspecting boyfriend, who probably also had no knowledge of what had gone on between Zayn and Liam but honestly Zayn was feeling too emotionally constipated to stop Louis.

“HAROLD!!!” he shouted, making his way to the living room where Harry was still lounging on the couch, doing something on his phone – probably instagramming an annoyingly cute picture of himself and Louis no doubt.

“S’not my name **!** ” Harry faux-grumbled as he looked up from his phone to his determined and equally enraged boyfriend.

“I don’t fucking care what your name is  _ **Harry**_ _!_  Your best mate is an arsehole!” Harry hadn’t yet been faced with protective-over-Zayn Louis and frankly he did not know whether to be scared, jealous or turned on.

“What’s the matter, Love?” Harry said with his most charming smile and innocent face, indulging Louis’ tantrum.

 “Did you know that your twat of a best mate and my prick of best mate are dating?” he asked.

“We’re not dating Loueh!” came Zayn’s muffled groan from his room.

It was so like Louis to hear what he wanted in a conversation and totally blow things out of proportion. Now it was going to seem as though Zayn had been whining about Liam to him.

“You kissed! Same thing!” Louis shouted back

“Wait, what?” Harry asked genuinely baffled by the conversation because…what? Liam and Zayn had kissed? When? Why had Liam not mentioned this to him? Surely if this was true then Liam would be distraught because as long as Harry had known him Liam had not once mentioned that he may be gay or bisexual or whatever and that’s definitely something you tell your best mate and godfather to your child.

“They kissed Harold! And now that git Liam won’t call Zayn back. Did you know about this?” Harry was bewildered as he sat up stock straight, swinging his legs onto the floor of the lounge to gather his bearings.

“No! No I – I didn’t even know Liam is…” Harry stopped short, seemingly genuinely shocked and left speechless by this revelation. “He’s never – fucking hell! He must be a mess!” Harry said, jumping up suddenly.

“ _HE_  must be a mess? What about Zayn? That wanker hasn’t been returning his texts or calls! How do you think Zayn feels?”

Harry could see Louis’ point. Really he could but Liam was his best mate, his best mate who must have been going through a bit of a sexual identity crisis at the moment, so if he had to choose someone to fret over between the two of them, Liam took precedence. Zayn had Louis.

 “Lou, I have to go. See you later at the theatre, yeah?” he said pecking Louis on the cheek.

“Liam? What about my best mate who that prick has bro-” but Harry was already up and heading towards the door where his shoes were.

“Harry Edward Styles! How very dare you walk away from me while I’m talking to you!!!” Louis exclaimed as he followed him to the door.

“Lou, I’m really sorry but I need to check in with him,” Harry said pecking Louis on the cheek again and rushing out the door before Louis could even finish his rant, leaving him in stunned silence.

Zayn came out of his room to find Louis still standing there, staring at the spot where Harry had been, not a second ago.

“I’m not broken Lou. It will take more than a pop star twat to break me,” he said.

“Where’d Haz go?” he asked, walking past on his way to the kitchen.

“Hopefully he’s gone to kick Liam’s daft arse into next century!” he said snapping out of it and joining Zayn in the kitchen.

“Please, just don’t interfere! This situation is embarrassing enough already.”

“Zayn, how can I not interfere? You’re my best mate and I’m s’pposed to look after you. That prat hurt you – and don’t bother denying it because I've never seen you this upset, certainly not over any of the twats you’ve dated.”

“Lou, it’s not as bad as you think,” Zayn tried to argue but he knew it was pointless, because he was upset over Liam but he hadn not intended to let anyone, not even his best mate, see him upset over a bastard like Liam Payne.

“Zayn, who do you think you’re talking to mate? I know you. I know when it’s bad and when it isn’t. And this seems it.”

Zayn sighed, because Louis was right. Zayn had never been able to deceive Louis, the blue-eyed boy simply knew him too well to buy any of his bollocks.

“I’m just mortified Lou. How did I let this happen? I’ve resented people like Liam since I found out what they’re really like, working at the club and all that. And I should have known. I should have known that something like this would happen eventually but I fell for it Lou. I fell for his charm when I should have known that he was no better than the pratty way he acted when we met that first night at  _Modest!_.”

“If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s that twat Liam because you are a hot piece of arse and he’s missing out,” Louis replied flippantly.

“Aha, you would know,” Zayn snorted out.

“Yeah, I would.”

Zayn didn’t miss the look that crossed Louis’ features and instantly regretted the comment. But that, where that look came from, was a complicated past he didn’t want to revisit so he let it go. Instead they both laughed the awkwardness off and for the first time since the kiss he felt like he was ready to start forgetting Liam Payne.

 

~*~

“LIAM!!!” came Harry’s slow drawl from the door that had just banged shut.

“In the kitchen!” Liam shouted back.

“Hey,” Harry said, softer now that he was in the same room. He pulled up a chair and sat across from Liam at the island.

Harry had this concerned crease in his eyebrow and Liam thought he’d seen that look twice too many times in the week.

“What’s up?” Liam finally when Harry just looked at him intensely but said nothing.

“You okay?”

Liam looked at his friend questioningly. He was pretty sure it was obvious he was fine but Harry was looking at him like his dog had died.

“Yeah, mate. I’m fine. What’s wrong with you? You’re looking at me all strange...”

“Li, I know,” Harry admitted solemnly, and for a moment Liam was perplexed, having no idea what his friend was talking about.  “I know about you and Zayn.”

And for the first time since Harry had walked in the door their conversation began to make sense.

“Okaaay, so?” he asked. Maybe that wasn’t the most polite reply to your best friend’s concern but really, Liam was still touchy about the subject of Zayn.

“So? I thought maybe you’d be freaking out because well...you’ve never...at least not in as long as I’ve known you and I just...I wanted to make sure you were okay about it.”

Not much of it made sense, seeing as Harry kept cutting himself off mid-sentence, stumbling over his words in an effort to get them out as quickly as he could. But Liam thought he understood what Harry was getting at anyway.

“Uh, thanks. But really, H, I’m fine about it.”

Harry looked relieved at this. But the crease in the brow quickly returned a moment later.

“So you’ve always known? Like, Zayn isn’t the first?”

Liam shook his head in answer to the latter.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Harry wondered out loud.

“I didn’t think it mattered, Haz. I figured I wouldn’t ever be with a guy romantically and it was just easier to let everyone assume until...”

“Until Zayn?”

 Liam looked away from his friend but nodded.

“So why haven’t you called him back then.”

Liam didn’t need to ask where Harry had gotten all his intel from, it was either from Louis or even Zayn himself.

“I just can’t do it right now,” Liam confessed.

“Do what? Be with another man? Are you scared because of your career? Because Li, Niall and I will back you whatever happens. You don’t need to worry about that.”

 “That’s not what I’m scared of Harry. I mean yeah, coming out finally is a bit daunting yeah, but what scares me more is how much I feel for  _him_. I’ve never felt so strongly for anyone. Not even Sophia. And I barely know him,” Liam ducked his head, embarrassed by his admission.

The room was silent for a beat, while Harry thought over what Liam had just confessed and while Liam wished the ground would open up and swallow him for being a sap.

“Li, you can’t just run from something because you’re scared. Sometimes the things that seem scary are the things we need in our lives. So call him!” Harry finally said, breaking the silence that had befallen them.

“I can’t! I just, I don’t know what this is and I’m scared because of what happened with Sophia, you know. If I let him in, Harry, then it could break me again and I have Taylor to look out for. I can’t go down that road again.”

Harry looked at his best mate sadly. Liam had been running from relationships since Sophia. He’d start seeing someone and then after two or three dates or when it felt like it was getting too serious he would end it. He was terrified of being broken again that he had let it interfere with letting himself really be happy with someone.

As much as Harry wanted to shake Liam out of this funk that he had let himself sink into over the years, he couldn’t make him see it. Liam had to figure it out himself for it to truly mean something. So he let it go and decided he would be there for him, no matter the outcome because he had a feeling Liam would need it, either way.

Liam appreciated that Harry didn’t push him on the issue because to say there was a lot of turmoil around it would be a gross understatement. Liam had stewed over the situation since the day after the kiss.

At first he had blamed his sudden anxiety and stress on the mere fact that when he had met Zayn, he had just been so heavily drawn to the other man that he had not even considered what the nature of attraction (more than just sexual) to the heavily tattooed bartender was. It was only on the night that he and Taylor had had dinner at Zayn and Louis’ that he had cottoned on to the fact that he may be romantically attracted to Zayn. His suspicion was confirmed on their zoo date, when he found himself at multiple times throughout the day staring at the other man’s lips or getting lost in his eyes while he spoke. When Zayn had fought with a pap to protect his daughter Liam was hit with it: he had an actual genuine crush on Zayn – a man. But even when they kissed at the door before Zayn left, he had not found it in him to panic too much about what was happening or what it meant for his sexuality or his career which was built from a majority female fan base (that held on to the fantasy that he would one day date one of them) and the assumption that he was straight. Even though his sexual orientation coming to light could ruin his career, Liam realised that this was not the thing that worried him, because when it came down to it he would never lose the important things in his life (his family, friends and daughter) regardless of his sexual identity.

So Liam finally had to admit the truth to himself. His anxiety and reluctance about Zayn stemmed, not from the fact that Zayn was a man but from something much deeper. It stemmed from the fact that he was a man Liam had already begun to  _fall_  for.

~*~

Zayn was supposed to have that Saturday off and he had planned on spending it curled up on the couch, cuddled with Louis watching “Grease” and stuffing himself with popcorn and ice-cream  when Paul called asking him to come and cover Aiden’s shift because he’d caught some bug and was booked off by a doctor. As much as Zayn wanted to grumble and say no, tell Paul to fuck right off, he knew that the extra money would go a long way, so he sucked it up and agreed to come in.

“Tommo?” he called out as he left his room, already dressed in his uniform and leather jacket. Louis peaked his head out of the kitchen in response.

“Hey! Why are you dressed in your work uniform?” he asked taking in Zayn’s clothes.

“Aiden’s sick, Paul asked me to take his shift.” Louis frowned, almost pouting.

“But we were supposed to have movie night and stuff ourselves with popcorn and ice cream! You know, quality flatmate slash best mate time?” Louis whined.

“I know Lou, but I could really use the money.” Zayn replied. “But, if you get dressed really quickly you could come with? Hang out with me at the bar?” Louis seemed to consider the merits of this. “I’ll give you free drinks!” Zayn said, he knew it was shameless bribery but he really didn’t feel like going to work and being with Louis would make the night go quicker.

“Whatever I want?” Louis asked.

“Yes, whatever you want.” Zayn conceded.

“Okay! Give me 5 minutes.” Louis said, rushing off to go get ready.

~*~

Liam had just come off stage, and he was still pumped up from the energy of the crowd and the adrenaline brought on by a good show. It was his second show of the tour and his last one in London before he flew off for the South American leg of the tour. He hadn’t felt this good since… well he didn’t really want to think about that right then.

He had just finished washing off the sweat and the grime from the show in his dressing room when Niall and Harry waltzed in.

“What’s going on boys?” he asked, big smile adorning his face.

“Ey Payno!!!! Great show out there mate. The energy was mad.” Liam smiled bigger at that. Niall and Harry may have been his best friends but they were also still his bosses so it was nice to get positive feedback from him.

“Thanks Nialler. Feels good to be back on stage again.” He said heading over to a bag he had on one of the couches in the room to pull out a t-shirt to wear with the jeans he already had on.

“Where’s Louis? I thought he was coming to the show with you tonight?”

“He had a matinee show so he’s at home resting up. But I was thinking” Harry started, “Seeing as it’s your last night in London for a couple of months, I was thinking we could go out? Celebrate the beginning of your tour?” Niall scoffed at that.

“What he means is, now that his boyfriend is sick of him he needs something to bide his time.”

“Oi! Shut it Horan. He’s not sick of me…he just needs his rest. If you know what I mean?” Harry said wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Liam burst out laughing at the same time that Niall said

“Ew! Harry, I don’t need to know about your sex life!” Harry laughed too but only to mask something else that clawed at him. It was one of those days for him and Louis. Earlier in the week they had argued over coming to Liam’s show. Louis hadn’t wanted to because he was pissed off at what had happened between Liam and Zayn. And Harry had voiced that he didn’t understand why Louis had to get involved when the situation didn’t really have anything to do with either of them. Louis had gone ballistic and practically thrown Harry out of his apartment and Harry hadn’t heard from him since. Well unless you count the strange phone call he got from Louis that morning where he had talked to Harry as if they hadn’t argued the last time they had seen each other and then told him that he was staying in with Zayn when Harry had offered to come over and talk things out. But the boys didn’t need to know any of that. Especially not Liam because he had enough to deal with, he didn’t need the added guilt that he would undoubtedly feel when he found out about his problems with Louis.

“So, what do you say Leeymo?” he said enthusiastically, pushing Louis out of his mind.

“I dunno lads. I wanted to get some rest before I fly off tomorrow.”

“Come on Payno! One last pint with the lads before you go off?” Niall said. Liam knew that a night out with Harry and Niall could never be just a couple of pints and then home but he thought, what the hell? He was still buzzing with post show energy and didn’t really want to head home to an empty house, having said goodbye to Taylor already and left her with Sophia.

“All right, all right. Where to then boys?” he asked, grabbing a jacket and his bag off the couch.

“ _Modest!_ ” Niall cheered. Liam immediately stopped in his tracks because there was no way in hell that he was going to  _Modest!_.

See it was a couple of days since he had spoken to Harry about the whole Zayn thing and he still hadn’t called him back, so he didn’t want to run the risk of running into him by going to the club where he worked.

“Pick another place Nialler, we’re not going to  _Modest!_ ” he said.

“Why can’t we go to  _Modest!_?” Niall asked, “I thought you liked it there?”

“Firstly, Niall  _you_  like it there. Secondly, Liam he won’t be there.” Harry said addressing each of them respectively.

“Who won’t be there?” Niall asked, more confused now.

“How do you know?” Liam asked, eyeing Harry.

“He and Louis are staying in tonight, that’s the real reason why Lou couldn’t come to the show. Also because he’s still pissed at you for not calling Zayn back but we’re not talking about that now.”

“Are you two talking about the bloke Liam’s been pining over all bloody week? Louis’ flatmate? The one who made Liam change teams? Why haven’t I met this lad?” Niall asked. Both Liam and Harry turned to look at Niall then. Liam looked at Niall perplexed while Harry glared at the Irishman. “What? Harry told me.” Liam turned to glare at Harry who in turn glared even more at his other best mate.

“What? You were being a twat and Niall wanted to know why so I told him.” Harry said turning to Liam. “Look, it’s not like you weren’t going to tell him eventually! Don’t look at me like that Liam James Payne! You know this Irish bastard can be persuasive! I can’t keep anything from him!”  Liam considered the merits of being angry and decided he wasn’t really mad that his other best friend knew about his sexuality (love) crisis too. After all he could use all the support he could get right about then.

“Fine.  _Modest!_  it is,” he said. Hiking up his bag and heading towards the parking lot.

They all piled into Liam’s Range Rover and made their way to the club.

 

~*~

 

Louis was hanging out at the bar, sipping some cocktail Zayn had mixed for him, trying not to look as bored as he felt because Zayn’s attention had been momentarily taken by a couple of patrons ordering drinks when he spotted a familiar head of curls bobbing through the crowd towards the bar.

Louis would recognise those curls that stood a head above most of the people in the club, anywhere. He hadn’t seen Harry since their argument, or rather since Louis had overreacted over going to Liam’s show with him.

Even though he knew he had overreacted Louis still couldn’t help but think that his anger was justified. He couldn’t stand people that played with other people’s feelings.

He’d watched his mum sink into a depression each time some man had walked out on them without so much as a second thought and he had vowed to himself that in all his adult life he would never let anyone do that to someone he loved again. And Liam had come and gone without Louis even noticing because he had been too preoccupied with his work and his boyfriend to notice his friend getting his heart broken.

That morning he’d come to the conclusion that his anger was directed at the wrong person. It wasn’t Harry who he was angry with, it was Liam for breaking his friend and himself for not noticing. And that’s why he had called Harry that morning to try and make things okay. But Louis was a proud person, too proud to properly apologise to Harry and so instead he tried to convey that there were no hard feelings by talking to him like nothing had happened but Harry had tried to insist on coming over to talk things over. Louis made up an excuse about how he was spending the night with Zayn. Which wasn’t true at the time but Harry had bought it and let it slide. After he hung up with Harry he had pitched the night in idea to Zayn, who he knew had the night off, he saw it as a way to make up for his negligence as of late, when Zayn had agreed Louis counted it as a win. 

Now there Harry was, at the club. Something irrational came over Louis then. He couldn’t help the small knot of jealousy that grew in his stomach at seeing his boyfriend out clubbing even though, as far as he knew, they were probably still on the outs. This led to another irrational thought of whether or not Harry was there with someone. Someone he wouldn’t want Louis to know about? He intended to find out. He left his seat and made his way to where his boyfriend now stood at the bar, looking for a bartender.

He came up behind the curly haired lad and wrapped his arms around his waist.

“Hiya, Curly!” he said into Harry’s ear (he had to stand on his toes to reach it).

Harry’s mouth immediately pulled into a smile when he recognised that voice and the hands at his torso. He turned around and was met by his boyfriend’s smile.

“Lou! What’re you doing here? I thought you and Zayn were staying in tonight?” he asked, glad though to see the other man.

“Zayn had to work, so I came with.” Harry couldn’t help the way his eyes widened a little at that.

“Zayn’s…here?” he asked again his voice taking on a higher pitch at the end of that question.

“Yeah!” Louis said, pointing down towards the end of the bar. And sure enough there was Zayn, standing behind the bar mixing up some colourful looking drink for the girl that was stood in front of him.

“Shit!” he said more to himself than anyone. They were only there because he’d told Liam that Zayn wouldn’t be working and he’d genuinely thought the raven haired lad wouldn’t be in.

“What? What’s wrong?” Louis asked, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “You better not be here with some other bloke Harold!” he said jabbing a finger in Harry’s chest.

“NO! No, no it’s not that Lou! I swear!”

“Then what is it?” Louis asked.

“It’s just, I came here with Niall and Liam and we only came because I told Liam Zayn wouldn’t be here.” He explained quickly. He pushed away the niggling feeling that his boyfriend of nearly a month already thought him capable of cheating.

“Oh. Liam’s here, you say?” Louis asked, a look of determination in his eyes. “Where is that git? I’d like to have a word with him...” Louis said looking around the venue now. Harry knew Louis pretty well by now and he knew that that look could only mean trouble and a scene being caused. Just then the DJ changed the song into some top 40 pop type song that Harry had never before heard.

“I love this song! Come dance with me love!”  Harry lied as he grabbed Louis by the arm and dragged him towards the dance floor. To distract him from his plot to decapitate his best mate in a public place. He was supposed to be getting drinks for himself and Liam and Niall but he figured keeping Liam alive and Louis out of prison was more important.

~*~

Harry had been gone a while, and Liam wondered what was taking him so long with the drinks. He tapped Niall, who was at the moment chatting up some busty blonde, to let him know that he was going to go find Harry. Niall nodded, quickly getting back to the bird he was chatting up.

Liam made his way through the crowd, looking for Harry but it was really difficult to make out anything in the darkened club with strobe lights as the main source of light. He made his way to the bar area which had better lighting than the rest of the club and he could see everyone’s faces clearly enough there.

He looked up and down the bar to see if he could spot Harry in the crowd. He didn’t see Harry but he did see a familiar face behind the bar, a face that he was told he wouldn’t have to face, not tonight, not yet. He wasn’t ready for his feelings to be real yet.

The longer he put off the feelings, the longer he could pretend they didn’t exist. He had hoped that he wouldn’t have to face Zayn yet, but now here he was, standing not 10 feet away from him and all of a sudden this seemed like a now or never moment. There, looking at Zayn and how gorgeous he was even in the dim lighting of the club, all of a sudden Liam couldn’t remember his reasons for not wanting to talk to the man.

All doubts seemed to fly out the window when Zayn looked up at that moment and met Liam’s gaze. Zayn then looked back at the patron in front of him and went about mixing a drink, pretending to not have seen Liam.

Liam on the other hand decided he wasn’t going to run from Zayn anymore so he made his way to the bar and waited until it had cleared out a bit before approaching Zayn.

"Hey..." Liam said, letting it hang in the air somewhere between being a question or a statement.

"What can I get you?" Zayn replied, completely disregarding the greeting. Liam did not miss the glare in his eye either.

"Can I talk to you?" Liam asked, steeling himself against the cold shoulder that had him wanting to cringe away from the bar and pressed on anyway. He was going to talk to Zayn because this whole avoiding each other business was stupid and pointless.

"I'm busy Leeyum. I'm working, in case you haven't noticed. Some of us don't have millions at our disposal," Zayn sneered.

"Okay, then I'll wait until you're not busy. Because I have to talk to you," Liam said. Not letting Zayn's earlier remark get to him.

Zayn just turned on his heel and walked up to another patron at the bar. The bar was busy all night, and Liam sat patiently waiting. Eventually the area started to clear until there were no patrons buying drinks anymore. Liam thought that maybe now he would get the chance to talk to Zayn but it seemed that Zayn didn't think so because instead of seeking Liam out during the temporary lull at the bar, he began clearing dirty glasses and restocking the still pretty full fridges.

He knew that this wasn't really his job, that's what the bus boys were for but he really didn't want to talk to Liam. He didn't want to hear Liam tell him how he was not good enough for him because he didn't wear designer clothes or live in a mansion somewhere in Kensington. Zayn had never been great at taking rejection and having to take it from Liam Payne, the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen but also a member of the elitist celebrity world that he detested. It would kill him. He just didn't want to hear it.

It seemed that Zayn had succeeded with his avoidance technique and Liam had finally gotten the message that Zayn didn't want to talk to him because when Zayn finally allowed himself to glance down the bar to where Liam had been seated for most of the night, his gaze was met by a vacant seat. Zayn tried not to scoff. Typical. He obviously thought himself too important to wait for a peasant like Zayn. Not that Zayn cared that he'd finally left. He didn't care. It's just that it was typical over-privileged celebrity behaviour. That's the thing that annoyed him about Liam. He couldn't figure him out. One minute he was just a regular guy, a little insecure and shy and endearingly awkward and cute and loveable but then the next he could turn into this pompous, arrogant and entitled brat of a celebrity. Everything Zayn resented. No, it was a good thing Liam had given up and left, Zayn decided.

~*~

The club began to clear eventually as the clock neared 3am. When the doors closed on the hour, Zayn did all his post-closing duties and made his exit, looking forward to sleeping in since it was Saturday. As he shrugged on his worn leather jacket Zayn began his long walk home. Louis had left earlier with Harry, so he didn’t have a ride. He pulled out a pack of Marlboro's from the pocket and stopped to light one. He wasn't aware of the car that had been idling near him that had now stopped. Zayn turned around when he heard a closing door and saw a figure walking towards him.

"Zayn!" the man called out. Zayn immediately started walking again when he recognised the voice.

"Zayn, wait!" Liam called out again, jogging lightly to catch up to him. Zayn sighed in exasperation. Clearly Liam wouldn't be satisfied until he broke Zayn's heart, so Zayn stopped. He was going to let Liam say whatever he wanted to say, there was no use in prolonging the rejection.

"What do you want Liam?" he said, trying to keep the apprehension in his voice at a minimum.

"I want to talk," Liam said when he caught up.

"I thought you'd left," Zayn said, it was a bit of a non-sequitur under the circumstances but he couldn't help himself, he wanted to know why Liam had come back.

"I told you I'd wait." Liam said, simply. As if this explained his presence outside a club at 4am. "Look I want us to talk...about everything that's happened, yeah?"

"I have nothing to say to you Liam," Zayn said turning to walk away.

Trust him to pick a beautiful but stubborn man to start falling for, Liam thought to himself. He shot a hand out to grab Zayn's arm to stop him from walking away.

"Well let me talk then? If you have nothing to say when I'm done, then I'll let you go."

Zayn turned back around then, jerked his arm away from Liam's grasp and fixed him with a glare that he hoped said he resented being there, standing with Liam rather than showing how panicked he was at having Liam confirm that there could never be anything between them.

"Thank you," Liam said when Zayn begrudgingly nodded for him to continue and say what he needed to say. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for not calling you back after that night. I'm just- I'm...scared. God Zayn, I'm terrified of whatever this might be because you're beautiful, smart and talented. People like you shouldn't like ordinary, bland and boring blokes with baggage - I have a kid and I'm only 23. You don't need to be weighed down like that. Beautiful people like you don't belong with blokes like me and I was - I still am - afraid that you'll wake up one day and realise that you want to be with someone just as gorgeous, smart and talented as you and then you'll leave. Zayn that would kill me because if we do this Zayn, I won't be able to stop myself from giving myself over to you. Do you understand?" Liam asked. And Zayn understood more than Liam could ever imagine. He didn't understand how Liam could look in the mirror and not see how perfect he was, with this warm, whiskey-coloured eyes that crinkled at the corner when he smiled and those plump pink lips that were so kissable. Zayn understood that someone had hurt him to his core, and that he didn't quite believe he deserved love. His face softened as he looked up and met Liam's watery gaze.

"Liam, you're perfect." Zayn said, hoping this conveyed just how attractive Zayn found the other man. "I knew what I was getting into when I kissed you, yeah? You have a beautiful and smart little girl and I would never see her as baggage. She's a part of you and I wouldn't have you any other way." he moved closer to the bigger man.

"I'm not going to hurt you Leeyum." Zayn said as he stroked Liam's cheek with his thumb.

"So you wanna do this with me?" Liam asked hopefully. Zayn couldn't help but chuckle at how cute he looked, looking up at Zayn through his eyelashes.

"Yes. I wanna do this with you Liam. But we'll take it slow, yeah? See how it goes?" Liam nodded. Relief flooding through him. He'd thought he’d lost his chance with Zayn when he didn't call him but here was this gorgeous angel of a man telling him he wanted to try it out with him. The smile on his face could have powered up the whole of London.

Zayn leaned in to kiss Liam. Their second kiss, this kiss was slow and lingering. As their lips met in a fumbled lock, it felt like they were trying to learn each other, to learn the movement of their lips in a kiss. It also felt like a promise, a promise that this would last long enough for them to know how to do it just right someday. Liam groaned when Zayn finally pulled away from him. Zayn laughed at the sound.

"What was that?" Zayn giggled. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts about this already?" he teased. But clearly, from the slightly panicked look on Liam's face, he did not take it as a joke.

"NO!" he said quickly. "No, no. Nothing like that. I was just thinking how shitty my timing was. I should've put on my big person pants two weeks ago, then we could've spent the time doing more of that and getting to know each other instead of avoiding each other. I’m off on tour in a couple of hours," Liam said, with a little pout.

Zayn laughed. Again. Zayn was defenceless against Liam's cute little antics. If he wasn't careful, this pop star would be the death of him.

"Yeah, too bad we don't live in an era with computers and cell phones and social media where we could video chat and talk. Wouldn't that be nice, then it would almost be like you never left." Zayn teased. Liam frowned, looking like a kicked puppy.

"Don't tease. S'not nice," he said, bumping his shoulder against Zayn's playfully. "Anyway, I just mean that, it won't be the same, you know."

"Yeah I know. But we'll work it out, yeah?" Liam nodded, because yeah, he would do and endure anything to make a relationship with this perfect man work, even though Liam didn't deserve him. Not that they were in a relationship...yet.

"What time do you leave?" Zayn asked.

"Plane leaves in the morning," Liam answered.

"We should get you home then so you can get some rest before your long journey," Zayn said, smiling softly at the man who was standing in front of him. Liam raised a sceptical brow at Zayn.

"We?" he asked. Zayn blushed and Liam almost passed out from lack of oxygen because could it be possible for someone so perfect to look even more...perfect?

"Y-yeah." Zayn faltered. "I mean if you want. Ugh, I'm sorry. Am I being too forward? I didn't mean to, I just thought that maybe since I wasn't going to spend time with you for a few months that we could at least spend the last few hours together. But we don't have to. I'm just, shit, I'm being too forward aren't I?" Liam didn't know whether to laugh or be stunned. Was Zayn flustered and rambling because of him? He chuckled at the thought.

"That's not what I meant Zayn," Liam finally said. "It's just last time I made you that offer, things didn't… turn out so well?" By now Zayn's blush had cleared and he was looking at Liam intently.

"Difference between this time and last time is that this time I’m offering and you're not acting like a pompous git and trying to buy my time."

Zayn smiled. Liam blushed at the memory of the night he had made a complete and utter fool of himself.

"So, what do you say?" Zayn asked. He reached across for Liam's hand, Liam's fingers immediately curling around Zayn's.

"Let's go," he smiled as he pulled Zayn toward his car.

~*~

So Zayn ended up heading home with Liam that night, but both of them were too tired to really do anything but sleep so after a thorough make out session both men fell asleep, Liam feeling cautious but happy and Zayn feeling content wrapped up in Liam.

Only a few hours later, Liam woke up to his alarm. He groaned a bit before he pushed out his arm to switch it off.  He looked down at the man who was wrapped around him like a spider monkey with one of his legs between Liam’s and the other thrown over them and his arms wrapped tightly around Liam’s waist. Liam couldn’t help but smile at the flawless face that rested in the crook of his neck. So Zayn was a cuddler? Liam thought that maybe this was one of the things he was going to come to love about him. After a bit of hesitation, Liam finally decided that it was time he got up. He had a flight to catch in less than two hours. So he carefully untangled himself from his spider-monkey lover and when he was sure that he didn’t wake him, he tiptoed to his en-suite bathroom to take a quick shower.

Zayn woke up to cold sheets and the sound of water running in the bathroom. He glanced at the clock on Liam’s bedside table. The time told him that it was too damn early for him to be up already but he also knew that Liam was flying off to start his tour that morning. So he managed to drag himself out of the warm and comfortable bed and traced the whereabouts of his shirt and headed downstairs to make Liam some breakfast. It was the least he could do, seeing as it was his fault that the other man had gotten less than four hours of sleep.

Liam came out of the bathroom expecting to find Zayn still asleep in his bed but instead, he came out to an empty bed. For a second his heart dropped to the floor thinking that Zayn had snuck out and left but then his eyes caught sight of the other man’s jeans still lying on the floor and was instantly flooded with relief. He quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and headed downstairs to find the missing man.

“ZAYN?” he called as he descended the stairs.

“In the kitchen!” came Zayn’s voice. Liam smiled at the gruff, sleep-ridden sound of it. It made him want to do things that he definitely did not have time to do.  As he rounded the corner into the kitchen he was met by the sight of Zayn in tight black boxer briefs and his work shirt unbuttoned, standing over the stove. A smile crept its way on his face as he approached the other man, wrapping his arms around his waist and kissing his cheek.

“Mmm, morning! Smells good.” He whispered in Zayn’s ear. Zayn smiled, turning his head slightly to kiss Liam on the cheek as well.

“Thought I’d make you some breakfast before you jet off.” He said. “Sit down, I’m almost done.” Liam reluctantly pulled his arms away from Zayn and took a seat at the breakfast counter. A couple of minutes later a plate of bacon and eggs was laid in front of him, followed by some toast and a steaming mug of coffee.

“This looks delicious.” He smiled. But he noticed that Zayn wasn’t joining him. “You not having breakfast?” Liam asked.

“I don’t eat bacon, religious thing. But I did already help myself to some cereal,” he said pointing to a bowl in the sink.  Liam nodded in understanding. How could he forget that Zayn was Muslim? They had talked about it that day they went to the zoo. The other man had also mentioned that he wasn’t currently practicing, but some of the habits and teachings had stuck.

He felt like a bit of an idiot for forgetting.

“Sorry, I forgot,” Liam said sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about it babe,” Zayn said kissing him on the cheek, “besides this gives me a chance to take a quick shower so I can head to the airport with you. That is if you don’t mind?” a huge smile broke out onto Liam’s face at the mention of Zayn accompanying him to the airport.

“Come here,” he requested, holding out his hand to the other man who came willingly. He pulled him in for a deep kiss before pulling away again. “Of course I don’t mind. I’d actually really like it if you came.”

“Okay. So I’m going to go take that shower then?” Zayn said leaning in to peck Liam on the lips before darting out of the kitchen.

“Everything you’ll need is in the cabinet.” He shouted after him.

~*~

A little while later Zayn and Liam were sitting in the back of a chauffeur driven car with tinted windows, on their way to the airport. Liam couldn’t keep his hands nor his lips off of Zayn. It had taken long enough for them to get out of the house when the car had arrived because Liam wouldn’t let Zayn get dressed. He’d gone upstairs, after finishing his breakfast to find a towel clad Zayn rifling through his dresser for a jumper to wear and he just couldn’t help himself. He had to touch him. He had come up behind the raven haired man, wrapped his arms around his slim waist and manoeuvred them towards the bed while kissing and nipping at the exposed flesh on his neck and shoulders. When they’d reached the bed he’d pushed Zayn back and climbed on top of him, straddling (and effectively trapping) him under himself.

They’d made out like that for what felt like a second but was probably ages, things getting quite heated if the moaning, groaning and grinding was anything to go by, before Zayn had had to force himself to pull away from the addictive feeling of Liam’s lips on his. He’d tried to reason with Liam, telling the other man that he was going to miss his flight if they didn’t get down to the waiting car but Liam was beyond using his big head to think and was clearly ruled by the little one in his pants  because he still wouldn’t stop. The situation had eventually been saved by the incessant ringing of Liam’s phone, which had prompted both of them to jump off the bed and hurriedly, Liam running around gathering his things while Zayn quickly put on some clothes before making their way to the waiting car.

No sooner had they hopped into the car, Liam was already all over Zayn again. He pulled him onto his lap so that Zayn was straddling him and they picked up right where they’d left their make out session earlier in the bedroom.

“Ugh! I wish I didn’t have to go,” Liam groaned when they pulled apart for breath.

“We’ll have plenty of time for…this when you come back,” Zayn whispered leaning in forehead to forehead and nose to nose with Liam. They were about to launch into another make out session when there was a slightly uncomfortable clearing of a throat from the driver.

“Mr Payne, we’ve arrived at the airport,” he said. True as bob when the two of them broke their prolonged gaze long enough to take in their surroundings they found that the car had indeed come to a stop in front of one of the airport entrances. Two minutes later, after Zayn had pulled himself off of Liam, the door was pulled open by a burly looking man who ducked his head in.

“You’re late Payne! Come on, out you come before we're even later. We have to hurry, there’s a bit of a crowd building out there and we have to get you in as quickly as possible,” the man said, barely taking notice of Zayn before pulling his head back out.

Liam turned to Zayn, “Okay babe, this may get tricky so stay close yeah? Don’t wanna lose you in the crowd,” before hopping out. Zayn moved to follow suit and the second he stepped out of the car his senses were assaulted immediately by loud screaming and flashing camera lights. The security man had said there was “a bit” of a crowd but that was a gross understatement. It wasn’t  _a bit_ of a crowd, it seemed more like the whole teenage population of England had turned up and the moment they spotted Liam, they went wild.

Zayn was sort of frozen in shock from the attack on his senses when he felt himself being pushed along by another one of Liam’s security team as they were hustled through the surging crowd, through the airport and into the frequent flyer lounge. When they were safely in there, Zayn took what felt like his first breath since they had stepped out of the car.

“You okay?” Liam asked gently as he ran a delicate finger across Zayn’s perfectly chiselled jaw. He was still awed by the fact that he could do that now, touch him and kiss him.

“Yeah. I think I am,” Zayn breathed. “It’s just a little overwhelming, you know.” Liam nodded understandingly and opened his mouth to say something when he was suddenly surprised by someone jumping on his back and hugging him round the neck.

She was nuzzled so deeply into Liam’s neck that all Zayn could see was a head of brunette curls and not much of her face.

“It’s about time you got here!” the girl on Liam’s back said when she finally pulled her head back and got off him. Liam turned to face her, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Dani, hey,” he said smiling widely at her. “Yeah, what can I say, I got a little caught up at home.”

He turned to give Zayn a quick sly glance which he almost missed because he was still processing the interaction he’d just witnessed. It was overly familiar and tactile, and something about it coiled his stomach a little.

The girl leaned slightly to the side to try and see past Liam so she could see who he had been looking at.

“Ooh, I see you’ve brought a friend. Who’s this then Liam?” she asked with coy curiosity.

Liam stood back and gestured for Zayn to come forward before introducing him to her.

“Dani, this is Zayn. Zayn this is Dani.”

The girl was gorgeous, her curly brown hair framing her face almost perfectly. She looked like a younger version of Leona Lewis and that made that knot that had coiled in his stomach earlier grow ever so slightly. It was probably irrational to be jealous when he barely knew what their relationship was, but he had possessive streak and it was acting up.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” she said. Though she smiled, it didn’t seem genuine and the appraising looking she gave Zayn bordered on a sneer that quickly disappeared though and it only made Zayn more uneasy about her.

 “Hi,” he said. It was curt and clipped and he didn’t bother to smile. He didn’t believe in pretending. He preferred to be honest about how he felt about people, but because she was Liam’s friend and he didn’t want to upset him he kept his expression passive instead of sneering right back, like he wanted to.

She was about to say something when a voice rang out in the lounge.

“Okay you lot, time to board!”

Everyone immediately began shuffling towards the door of the lounge except Liam who remained rooted on the spot in front of Zayn, sad puppy look on his face. Zayn bit back a fond smile.

As the room cleared he couldn’t help but wonder about Dani and Liam’s relationship. Their closeness and her reaction to Zayn made him think that there may have been a little history there, so he asked Liam.

“What’s the story with the two of you then?” Zayn asked Liam, careful to keep the jealous tone from his voice.

“What? Me and Dani? We’re just good friends. She’s one of the dancers” Liam said nonchalantly. But Zayn didn’t miss the fondness in his voice as he said it.

“That’s all? You two didn’t – you never…dated or anything?”

“Ha, no! Nothing like that,” Liam laughed it off, even though Zayn had hit a little close to home with that question. No, he and Dani hadn’t dated, but Liam had had a crush on her since the day he’d first seen her at one of the rehearsals for his first live show. He’d never gotten the courage to ask her out though because soon after they had started becoming friends he had found out that she was dating someone else and he’d decided to respect that and keep his distance. And there was also the thing about her being one of the most beautiful people he had ever laid eyes on and being out of his league because he was after all just an average bloke. There was no way she would have ever liked him  _like that,_ so Liam had never bothered to try anything with her.  The crush wasn’t as strong now as it had been back then, especially since he had Zayn now but he had to admit that there was a bit of residual unresolved feelings there.

Zayn nodded, because he had no reason not to take Liam’s word for it. That uneasy feeling was still there but Zayn pushed it down, telling himself he was being ridiculous. He wanted to say more, to tell Liam that he wasn’t comfortable with him spending too much time with her, but he sorted that it was a bit too soon to play the jealous boyfriend. After all, they hadn’t even talked about whatever it was they were doing. They hadn’t defined it, and until they had Zayn figured he had no right to voice his concerns so he bit back his words.

The lounge had cleared out, seeing as the majority of people in there had been a part of Liam’s entourage and team when Paddy called out to him.

“Liam! We’ve got to go now lad. Come on!” He said.

“Coming Paddy!” he called back.

Liam frowned.

“I have to go now,” he said to Zayn. “But I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Soon,” Zayn repeated as Liam leaned in to plant a soft, chaste kiss on his lips.

“Facetime every day?” Zayn nodded. Liam gave him one more kiss before turning back and racing towards Paddy who stood waiting at the door, his expression carefully blank. Zayn stood back, watching Liam’s departing figure until he turned the corner to the boarding gates. He then headed back to the waiting car that had been instructed to await his return and take him wherever he needed to be. By now the huge crowd that had gathered earlier had dissipated and there was no trace of there ever being one. Zayn had to admit that he was a bit relieved that it had cleared because he’s not sure how he would have handled it there still had been one and someone had recognised him from earlier with Liam. He’d heard stories about friends and family of celebrities who had been mobbed by fans. He slid back into the vehicle and as it drove off, he gave the driver his address and sat back, trying not to feel too bummed about Liam’s departure.

~*~*~*~

 

 


End file.
